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CELEBRATION 



OF THE 



CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY 



OF T a K 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



WORCESTER, MASS. JULY 4, 1876, 



^ ^-ed^-e-c-M- O', '^ 




'^i'/i :^^^4d^a^ 



V 



CELEBRATION 



BY THE 



^ 



INHABITANTS OF WORCESTER, MASS., 



OF THE 



CENTENNIAL ANNIYERSAKY 



OF THE 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



JULY 4, 1876. 



TO WHICH ARE ADDED 




HISTORICAL AND CHKONOLOGICAL NOTES. 



W 1 r e 5 1 e t : 

PKINTED BY ORDER OF THE CITY COUNCIL, 
MDCCCLXXVI. 



js\ 



Tl4 



WOKCESTEB : 
PRESS OF CHAS. H-iMII/lON. 

1876. . 







The following resolve and order were adopted bj the City 
Council at their first meeting after the Celebration : — 



CITY OF WORCESTER. 



In City Council, July IOth, 1876. 

' Rfsolved :— That the City Council hereby tenders its thanks to the Hon. 
Benj. F. Thomas, for his eloquent and able Oration, delivered on the Centen- 
nial Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States, 
July 4th, 1876; and that he be requested to furnish a copy thereof for 
publication. 

Ordered : — That the Committee of Arrangements for Celebrating the Cen- 
tennial Fourth of July, appointed February 14th, a. d. 1876, be, and they are 
hereby, authorized to have printed fifteen hundred copies of the oration 
delivered by Judge Thomas, July 4th, a. d. 1876, together with a complete 
and concise history of the celebration, for the use of the City Council; the 
expense thereof to be charged to appropriation for incidentals. 

Approved July lith, 1876. 

CLARK JILLSON, Mayor. 

(A copy.) Attest, 

Samuel Smith, City Clerk. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Pages. 

I. The Pkeparations, • . . . . 10-20 

II. Exercises of the Day, 21-25 

III. The Oration, 29-81 

IV. Processions, Decorations, and Illuminations, 85-105 

V. Historical Notes, 109-122 

VI. Ancient Buildings and Historical Localities, 123-146 



I 

The Committee on Printing, for the Celebration by the City of 

Worcester, of the Fourth of July, 1876, herewith submit the result of 

their labors. The limits of the volume have compelled them, with 

regret, to omit many details of the private displays and decorations of 

the day, and to refer chiefly to such alone as were of a public nature. 

The President of the United States, in his proclamation, last Spring, 

expressed the hope that Cities and Towns would publish an account of 

their July celebrations this year ; and it therefore seemed proper to this 

Committee to add to the account of the exercises here, some historical 

notes and memoranda, compiled by one of their number, in regard to 

affairs which occurred in the town at about the time of the Declaration 

of Independence ; together with a list of previous celebrations of its 

anniversary. *" 

Clakk Jillson, Mayor. 

Charles A. Chase. 

Nathaniel Paine. 

Rich A HI) O'Flynn. 

J. EvAKTS Greene. 



CENTENNIAL CELEBEATION. 



PREPARATIONS 



ACTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL. 



Eaklt in the year, the question of having a suitable com- 
memoration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of American 
Independence was agitated in the City Council, and the follovring 
order was adopted : — 

CITY OF WORCESTER. 



In City Coxjncil, January SIst, 1876. 

Ordered :— That Aldermen Pratt and Lapham, with Councilmen Gaskill, 
Crane and Kickham be a Joint Special Committee, to consider and report 
upon the expediency of celebrating the Centennial fourth of July in an 
appropriate manner. 

Approved February 1st, 1876. 

CLARK JILLSON, Mayor. 

(A copy.) Attest, 

Samuel Smith, City Clerk. 

This Committee presented the following Report, which was 
accepted, and its recommendations adopted by the City 
Council : — 

CITY OF WORCESTER. 



In City Council, February 14th, 1876. 

The Joint Special Committee appointed to consider and report upon the 
expediency of Celebrating the Centennial Fourth of July in an appropriate 



12 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

manner, have attended to the business committed to them, and report that 
the Committee are unanimous in the opinion that the Centennial Anniversary 
of our National Independence should be observed in a manner worthy of the 
occasion. 

The Committee recommend the appointment of a Joint Special Committee 
of the City Council, to consist of the Mayor, ttvo Aldermen, the President of 
the Common Council and three Councilmen, with power to make all necessary 
arrangements therefor. They also recommend that the Hon. George Bancroft 
be invited to deliver the oration ; also, that an appropriation of $3,000 be 
made by the City Council, to defray the expense that may be incurred. 

The Committee recommend that a meeting of the citizens be held at an 
early day to choose a Committee to act in concert with the Committee of the 
City Council, and the adoption of the accompanying order. 

Sumner Pratt, 
M. A. Lapham, 

E. B. Crane, 

F. A. Gaskill, 

W. KiCKHAM, 

Committee. 



CITY OF WORCESTER. 



In City CouNcn,. 

Ordered :— That the Mayor and Aldermen Jourdan and "Williams, the 
President of the Council, and Councilmen Lovell, O'SuUivan and Rawson, be 
a Joint Special Committee, with power to make all necessary arrangements 
for celebrating the Centennial Anniversary on the Fourth day of July next. 

Ordered : — That the sum of Five Thousand Dollars be, and the same is 
hereby, appropriated to defray the expense which shall be incurred by the 
Joint Special Committee of the City Council in Celebrating the Centennial 
Anniversary of our National Independence ; and the Mayor is hereby author- 
ized to draw his orders on the City Treasurer for the payment of all such 
bills of expenditure as shall be authorized and approved by said Committee 
for said purpose to the amount of said sum, and that the same be charged to 
the account for incidental expenses. 



Approved February 29, 1876. 



(A copy.) Attest, 



CLARK JILLSON, Mayor. 



Samuel Smith, Cit]i Clerk. 



ACTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL. 13 

In accordance with the recommendation of the City Council, 
the Mayor extended the following invitation to the Hon. George 
Bancroft : — 

CITY OF WORCESTER. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 



Mayor's Office, February 14th, 1876. 

Dear Sir: 

Being duly authorized by the City Council of the City of Worcester, 
I hereby extend to you a cordial invitation to deliver an Address to the City 
Government and People of said City, on the Fourth day of July next. 

The citizens of Worcester will gladly welcome you to the home of your 
childhood. 

Truly yours, 

CLARK JILLSON, Mayor. 

Hon. George Bancroft, 

Washington, D. C. 

Mr. Bancroft declined the invitation of the City Council in the 
following letter : — 

No. 1623 H Street, 
Washington, D. C, March Uh, 1876. 

My Dear Sir : 

The aflFection I bear to the City of Worcester makes it difficult 
for me to decline your invitation to return to the place of my nativity and 
the home of my childhood, and address its government and people on the 
Fourth day of July next. 

This conflict between my most cherished local attachment and my sense of 
what it is prudent for me to undertake, have kept my mind long in suspense, 
and must plead with you as my excuse for the delay in replying to your 

note. 

Yet I have deemed it on every other occasion discreet and necessary to 
decline any invitation to speak to a large assembly; and it is with the utmost 
regret that I find myself, on the present occasion, obliged to forego the honor 
and delight of meeting and addressing you on our approaching Centenary 
Anniversary. 

Yours very truly, 

Geo. Bancroft. 

The Honorable Clark Jillson, 

Mayor of the City of Worcester, Mass. 



14 CENTENNIAL CELEBKATION. 

After receiving the letter of Mr. Bancroft declining the invita- 
tion to deliver the oration, the Committee having the matter in 
charge voted to invite the Hon. B. F. Thomas, of Boston, to per- 
form that service. 

Judge Thomas accepted the invitation in the following 
letter : — 

Boston, March 2^th, 1876. 
My Dear Sir: 

I have received your kind invitation on behalf of the City Council 
to deliver an address to the City Government and People of Worcester on 
the Fourth of July next. 

I find it not easy to decline any service the City of Worcester asks at my 
hands, and will try to discharge the duty assigned to me. 

Very truly yours, 

Benj. F. Thomas. 

Hon. Clark Jillson, and 
Thomas J. Hastings, Esq., 

Committee. 

In accordance with the recommendation of the Committee of 
the City Council, it was decided to invite several citizens known 
to be interested in a proper observance of the day, to unite with 
them in making the necessary arrangements. The members of 
the Citizens' Exchange having expressed their interest in the Cele- 
bration by the appointment of a Special Committee to aid in 
making it a success, the Committee of the City Council invited 
the gentlemen so designated to act upon the General Committee. 

The General Committee, as finally constituted, was as 
follows : — 

City Government: 

CLARK JILLSON, Mayor; 
WM. H. JOURDAN, Alderman; JOHN M. WILLIAMS, Alderman; 
THOMAS J. HASTINGS, President Common Council; 
ALBERT A. LOVELL, CORNELIUS O'SULLIVAN, O. F. RAWSON, 

COMJION COUNCILMEN. 



PREPARATIONS. 15 

Citizens at Large: 

C. B. WHITING, W. A. DENHOLM, SAMUEL D. NYE, 

STEPHEN SALISBURY, Jr., RICHARD O'FLYNN, 

E. B. STODDARD. 

Citizens' Exchange : 

GEORGE F. VERRY, HENRY H. CHAMBERLIN, E. H. KNOWLTON, 

CHAS. B. PRATT, A. D. WARREN, 

A. M. PARKER. 

The Committee voted that there should be two Processions ; 
the first consisting of Military and Civic Organizations, to take 
place in the forenoon ; and the other, in the afternoon, to be a 
Trades' Procession, representing the various business interests of 
the City of Worcester. It was also decided that the public 
buildings be decorated on the day of the celebration and illumi- 
nated in the evening, and that the public generally be earnestly 
invited to take part in this demonstration. 

Besides the formal exercises of the day at Mechanics Hall, it 
was voted, that there should be a Concert by the Children of 
the Public Schools at an early hour in the day, to be given in a 
tent to be erected on the Common. 

On Monday the 3d of July, the project of having the Declara- 
tion of Independence read for the benefit of those who did not 
attend the exercises in Mechanics Hall, was started, and arrange- 
ments were made to that effect. Colonel J. A. Titus was selected 
as the reader, and the spot where the Old South Church porch 
stood when the Declaration was first read in the State was select- 
ed as the place for the reading. Col. Titus accordingly read the 
Declaration from this historic spot, while the exercises in the hall 
were in progress. 

The General Committee appointed the following Sub-Com- 
mittees, to take charge of the various details of the Celebration : — 

On Firing Salutes, Music, etc. 

O. F. RAWSON, Chairman ; R. H. CHAMBERLAIN, E. T. RAYMOND, 

J. M. DRENNAN, ARTHUR A. GOODELL, 
G. EDWARD SMITH. 



16 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

On Emblems. 

ALBERT A. LOVELL, Chairman; CHARLES B. WHITING, 

EDWARD W. LINCOLN, JOHN G. HEYWOOD, 

STEPHEN SALISBURY, Jr., S. J. WILCOX, 

GEO. E. FRANCIS, J. STEWART BROWN, 

WM. S. BARTON, H. WOODWARD, 

BENJ. ZAEDER. 

Trades' Procession. 

WM. H. JOURDAN, Chairman; SAMUEL D. NYE, JAMES H. MELLEN, 

ANDREW ATHY, D. F. PARKER, CHARLES BELCHER, 

C. W. GILBERT, H. M. WITTER. 

Civic Organizations and Bodies. 

J. A. TITUS, Chairman; A. D. WARREN, GEORGE SUMNER, 

JOHN S. BALDWIN, CORNELIUS O'SULLIVAN. 

Citizens' Teams and Banners. 

CHARLES B. PRATT, Chairman; HENRY H. CHAMBERLIN, 

GEORGE S. BARTON, GEORGE P. KENDRICK, 

CHAS. A. WILLIAMS, HARLAN FAIRBANKS. 

Decoration and Illumination of Common. 
J. M. WILLIAMS, Chairman; E. B. STODDARD, H. A. MARSH, 
LEWIS W. HAMMOND, J. K. CHURCHILL. 

Citizens' Out-door Decoration, etc. 

W. A. DENHOLM, Chairman; WM. H. BLISS, A. M. PARKER, 
E. H. KNOWLTON, J. J. RUSS. 

Tent and Fixtures. 

CHAS. H. PECK, Chairman; DAVID BOYDEN, C. H. M. BLAKE, 
P. F. MURRAY, WM. O'CONNELL. 

Exercises in the Tent. 

THOMAS J. HASTINGS, Chairman; A. P. MARBLE, JAMES GREEN, 
WM. B. HARDING, WM. T. HARLOW, F. A. GASKILL, 

JAMES DRAPER. 

Procession, Boute, etc. 

JOSIAH PICKETT, Chairman; SIMON E. COMBS, 

JAIRUS B. LAMB, W. S. B. HOPKINS, 

JAMES T. BRYANT. 



PREPAKATIONS. 17 

Printing. 

CLARK JILLSON, Chairman; CHARLES A. CHASE, NATHANIEL PAINE, 
RICHARD O'FLYNN, J. EVARTS GREENE. 

Invitations and Beceptions. 

CLARK JILLSON, Chairman; C. DEVENS, Jr., STEPHEN SALISBURY, 

GEORGE W. RICHARDSON, D. WALDO LINCOLN, 

WM. H. JOURDAN, HENRY CHAPIN, 

ISAAC DAVIS, GEO. F. VERRY. 



At an early day, Gen. Josiali Pickett was appointed Chief 
Marshal, to have in charge the processions on the day of the 
celebration, and, having accepted the invitation, he appointed the 
following aides : — 



aiief of Staff: 
Major E. T. RAYMOND. 



Aides : 

Gen. A. B. R. SPRAGUE, Gen. W. S. LINCOLN, Gen. A. A. GOODELL, 

Gen. D. D. WILEY, Surgeon J. M. RICE, Maj. L. G. WHITE, 

Capt. T. S. JOHNSON, Capt. C. S. CHAPIN, 

Capt. D. M. EARLE, Lieut. W. B. HARDING, 

Serg't HARLAN FAIRBANKS, 

H. M. WITTER, HENRY A. MARSH, Dr. NAPOLEON JACQUES, 

Dr. F. J. McNULTY, STEPHEN SALISBURY, Jr., 

R. M. GOULD, JOHN N. MORSE, Jr., 

A. A. LOVELL. 



3 



18 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



The following invitation was extended to his Excellency the 
Governor, the Ex-Mayors of the City, and to many of the former 
residents of Worcester : — 

ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 



1776. 




1876. 



OF 



JJmwimn cjndfpendmt^. 



The InTiabitants of the City of Worcester cordially invite 

you to hejpresent on the Uh day of July, 1876, and join with 

them in Celebrating the One Hundredth Anniversary of the 

N'ation's Independence, in this City. 

Clark Jillson, 
Charles Devens, Jr., 
Stephen Salisbury, 
George "W. Richardson, 
D. Waldo Lincoln, 
Wm. H. Jourdan, 
Henry Chapin, 
Isaac Davis, 
George F. Verry, 

Committee of Invitation and Beception. 
Guests Received at the City Hall at 9 A. M. 



PKEPARATIONS. 19 

Governor Rice declined the invitation, regretting his inability 
to be present. 

The following Ex-Mayors were present, and took part in the 
festivities : — 

Peter C. Bacon, Henry Chapin, George W. Richardson, P. 
Emory Aldrich, Alexander H. Bullock, Phinehas Ball, W. W. 
Kice, Edward L. Davis, D. Waldo Lincoln. 

Among those present at the exercises in the Hall, were Judge 
Charles Devens, Jr., of the Supreme Judicial Court, the venera- 
ble Rev. George Allen, and Hon. Stephen Salisbury, honored 
citizens of Worcester. 

Hon. George Bancroft, formerly a resident of Worcester, 
declined the invitation of the Committee in the following 
letter : — 

Newport, July Ist, 1876. 

My Dear Sirs : 

Your invitation to join you in celebrating the coming One 
Hundredth Anniversary I receive with answering gladness. 

No place in the Union has a better right to keep it than my native town, 
which, in every great crisis, has been true to the nation. To the prophetic 
wisdom of the politicians of Worcester John Adams listened and mused till 
the fire burned and lived within him, so that he became the colossal defender 
of American Independence. In the struggle against slavery as a Massachu- 
setts institution, it records only victories bloodless and complete ; and when, 
at a later day, the cry arose that the Union was in danger, its voice was heard 
on all the hill-sides, and its sons were arrayed in countless battle-fields. 

I shall be present on the 4th with you in spirit, and am, and shall ever be, 
with affection and fidelity for the place of my birth. 

Most truly yours, 

Geo. Bancroft. 

To Messrs. Clark Jillson, 

Charles Devens, Jr., 
Stephen Salisbury, 
Geo. W. Richardson, 
D. Waldo Lincoln, 
William H. Jourdan, 
Henry Chapin, 
Isaac Davis, 
Geo. F. Verry, 

Committee of Invitation and Beception. 



20 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The Hon. Emory Wasliburn, of Cambridge, for many years a 
prominent and honored citizen of Worcester, was also obliged to 
decline the invitation of the Committee : — 

Cambridge, June 2%th, 1876. 

Gentlemen : 

I thank you cordially for the honor of an invitation to be present 
on the coming 4th July at the Celebration of the Inhabitants of the City of 
Worcester. It would have given me great pleasure to accept it if a previous 
engagement upon the same day did not compel me to decline it. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

Emory "Washburn. 

Hon. Clark Jillson and others, 

Committee. 



EXERCISES OF THE DAY. 



The Exercises at Mechanics Hall were carried out in accord- 
ance with the following 

PROGRAMME. 



Chorus. — Hail Columbia! 

PRAYER. 

Eev. Charles M. Lamson. 

Our God and Father ! Ou this day of celebration we confess Thee, Thy 
wisdom, love, and the glory of Thy name. Thou hast established our 
country, and to Thee we give honor and gratitude. 

"We thank Thee for the liberty that has been achieved. May it be main- 
tained and preserved. May we live again the virtues of our fathers, and give 
to our children what we have as a legacy from them. May we study their 
spirit, and remember their wisdom and devotion. 

God bless our Union of States. In unity may they preserve peace and 
honor. May they grow strong and great and pure. 

God bless the day and all who celebrate its return. God bless us, and 
make us better able to do our work, to live more wisely, and be fitted by the 
faithful performance of present duty for future responsibility. In the name 
of Christ, Amen. 

Chorus. — Hail Columbia. 

reading of the declaration of independence, 
By Herbert B. Howard, 

Junior Class of the High School. 



22 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

ODE. 
Wbittex by Hon. Claek Jillson. 

One hundred years ago to-day, 
A few brave souls prepared the way 
To found an empire, strong and free, 
Defying legions o'er the sea. 

They set their banner on the hills, 
New-born and fresh as mountain rills, 
That all the world might see its stars, 
And count its thirteen flaming bars. 

The bells proclaimed a nation's birth. 
And spread the tidings o'er the earth ; 
The state rejoiced — united, free. 
Their watchword "Death or Liberty." 

The struggle came ; and face to face. 
With polished steel or gleaming mace, 
Two armies stood as firm as rock. 
To give and take the battle shock. 

The youthful empire won the field. 
And England's pride was doomed to yield ; 
Oppression was compelled to cease. 
Beneath the arching bow of Peace. 

The nations wondered when they saw 
Triumphant Liberty and Law; 
And we recount their pledges o'er, 
Proclaiming peace forevermore. 

His Honor, Mayor Jillson, then introduced the Orator of the 
Day, in the following words : — 

Fellow-Citizens : 

Oar nation rejoices to-day. The States affirm their fidelity to 
each other as they stand side by side upon the verge of a new century. The 
City of "Worcester, proud of its history in the olden time, adds a willing 
voice to the grand chorus of loyal municipalities, and gratefully renews a 
faithful devotion to the true spirit of American liberty. Those unconquerable 
patriots, who met in secret conclave and open town meeting, in public assem- 
blies and in the Continental Congress, uttering defiance to the most powerful 
nation on the earth, have passed away, but their woi'ds, culminating so 
grandly in the clear, bold autograph of John Hancock, appended to that 



EXERCISES OF THE DAY. 23 

immortal pioneer of liberty, the Declaration of Independence, gave life and 
vitality to a great Republic, the future of which is as full of hope as its past 
is of glory. The history of these men speaks to us from the sacred shrine of 
yonder consecrated temple,* where, amid glittering bayonets, they Itnelt in 
prayer for the common safety. How great the change within a period of one 
hundred years ! The walls of that ancient edifice were not decorated with 
banners, emblems, or graceful festoons. Children were not gathered there as 
we see them to-day in the freshness of their young lives, to echo through its 
solemn arches the thrilling notes of victory, or to soothe the weary soldier 
with anthems of peace. 

But the founders of the Republic in time of peril were urged on to duty 
by believing that an overruling Power had favored them with a special 
blessing in placing at the head of their fearless armies such men as Wash- 
ington and Lafayette, under whose guidance, with the inspired words of 
Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry upon their lips, they established our 
independence forever. 

To-day, after the lapse of a century, we meet to commemorate the virtues 
of our fathers, and, amid patriotic demonstrations, ringing of bells, the roar 
of cannon and the glare of illumination, to impress upon all American citizens 
how strongly they are bound to cherish the memory of those heroes of 1776. 

One hundred years ago, on the Fourteenth day of July, the Declaration of 
Independence, then on its way from Philadelphia to Boston, was intercepted 
at Worcester, and read for the first time in Massachusetts by a distinguished 
defender of the American Colonies, Mr. Isaiah Thomas. 

On this occasion, I have the honor to introduce to you as the Orator of the 
Day, one of his descendants, Hon. Benjamin F. Thomas. 



ORATION. 

Hon. Benjamin F, Thomas, LL. D. 

BENEDICTION. 



The Choru8 consisted of the Pupils of the High School. 
G. William Spmnee, Organist. Edward S. Nason, Conductor. 



* The Old South Church. 



24: CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

CONCERT, 



BY THE PUPILS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



One of the most charming features of the celebration waB the 
Concert by the Pupils of the Public Schools, in a mammoth tent 
on the Common, at 7.45 a. m. There were about twelve hundred 
in the chorus, selected principally from the Grammar Schools ; 
the groups of happy children, in charge of the principal teach- 
ers, the girls generally dressed in white and the boys in their 
holiday attire, each carrying a neat national flag. They were 
arranged on tiers of seats in regular elevation from the con- 
ductor's stand in front. On the right of the conductor was an 
organ and piano, and on the left the four Worcester bands for 
accompaniments. Mr. C. P. Morrison presided at the organ, and 
Mr. G. W. Sumner at the piano, with Mr. E. S. Nason for con- 
ductor. The portion of the tent not occupied by the singers and 
bands was closely packed with a deeply interested audience, and 
thousands were around the tent, enjoying as well as they could 
the sweet strains of the young songsters. 

The concert was conducted in accordance with the following 
programme : — 

CENTENNIAL CONCERT, 

IN THE TENT ON THE COMMON, BY THE 

SCHOLARS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 

July ith, 1876, from 7| to 9 o'clock, A. M., 

ASSISTED BY THE 

WORCESTER BRASS BAND, 

WORCESTER NATIONAL BAND, 

WORCESTER FRENCH BAND, 

WORCESTER IRISH BAND. 



MB. C. P. M0BBI80N, Organist. 

MB. G. WILLIAM SUMJSfEB, Pianist. 

MB. EDWABD S. XASON, Conductor. 



EXERCISES OF THE DAY. 25 

PHOGRAMME. 



1. America. 

Full chorus of 1200 voices, bands, organ and piano. 

2. Our Native Land. 

Scliolars of the eighth and ninth grades, organ and piano. 

3. Independence Day, 

Song, by the boys, chorus by all the voices, bands, &c., 
and tableau with flags. 

4. Mount Vernon Bells. — To the Memory of Washington. 

Song, by twenty-eight youug ladies from the eighth and ninth 
grades. 

5. The Red, White and Blue. 

Song, by boys, chorus by all, with bands, &c. 

6. Keller's American Hymn. 

Full chorus, bands, organ and piano. 

7. Flag of the Free. 

Song, by boys, with full chorus. 

8. New England. 

9. Star Spangled Banner. 

Full chorus, bands, organ, piano, and tableau with 
flags. 



ORATION 



BY 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN THOMAS, 



July 4, 1876. 



ORATION. 



It was a quiet summer's morning in the then village 
of Worcester, loveliest of the inland villages of the 
" Bay," indeed of the New England. In 1776 and for a 
half century later, the village consisted chiefly of a 
single broad way, leading from the north square to the 
Common or training-ground, running through this val- 
ley and begirt with these hills which nature and culture 
had made so beautiful. The street lined on either side 
with elms, the neat, many of them elegant, mansions 
standing back from the road, with grass-plat or flower- 
bed in front and shrubbery at the sides, and the general 
an- of comfort, refinement, and taste, were the delight 
of all travellers. The shire of the county, the residence 
of its officials, it was distinguished then as now for its 
society of educated men and beautiful and accomphshed 

women. 

On the training-ground and around the western porch 
of the meeting-house the people of the village had been 
suddenly gathered; standing on the porch a young man 
of twenty-seven years was reading to the intently list- 
ening group the Declaration of Independence. Early 



30 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

on Sunday morning, the 14tli of July, 1776, the mes- 
senger bearing the Declaration to Boston had been 
intercepted, and a copy obtained, which was now read 
publicly for the first time in Massachusetts Bay. 
Young as was the reader, he had already a history. 
Trained in what has so often proved the best of colleges, 
the printing office, Isaiah Thomas had established in liis 
native city of Boston, six years before, the " Massa- 
chusetts Spy." For six years he had given his press 
and himself to the cause of freedom in the colonies. 
The " Spy " became a power in the Massachusetts Bay. 
The provincial government hoped to buy the young 
printer : he was not in the market ; it tried to intimi- 
date him : he was without fear; it tried to suppress 
him, but he baffled and defeated its craft and its power, 
gaining new strength and influence by every conflict. 
Trained by the severest discipline of narrow and adverse 
fortune, struggle was to him second nature. Striking 
to the root of things, aggressive, defiant of the civil 
and military power of province, parliament and crowTi, 
threatened openly with violence by the soldiers and 
privately with assassination, his press and life were in 
such imminent peril that John Hancock and other 
friends insisted upon his removal from Boston to the 
interior. In a few days they said it would be too late. 
On the evening of the 16th of April, 1775, with the aid 
of Gen. Warren and Col. Bigelow, two presses and a 
few types were ferried over the river to Chaiiestown 
and put on their way to Worcester. 

In the great debate between prerogative and freedom, 



ORATION. 31 

his press had been among the first to rise from the dis- 
cussion of the rights of the colonists as Enghsh sub- 
jects, to the higher plane of their rights as men. The 
Declaration he was reading was the culmination of his 
faith and hopes. 

The listening village, — it too had a history, of ten 
years' strife, so fierce that social and family ties were 
burned as flax in its flame ; bitterer even than the con- 
flicts of arms. In these, wrath and bitterness are 
ejected with the cannon or rifle shot or thrust of bayo- 
net, and humanity resumes its sway ; but the wrath that 
finds no outlet but words is kindled and fanned by their 
breath to intenser heat. Some of her citizens most 
eminent for ability, culture and social influence, led by 
James Putnam, the learned and eloquent attorney- 
general of the province, had adhered to the royal cause, 
attesting their fidelity to their convictions by sufl'ering 
reproach, confiscation, and exile. 

The sons of liberty had had too their cross. These 
matrons and maidens, listening with moistened eyes 
and throbbing breasts, had husband, son or brother who 
had been in the terrible march through the wilderness 
to Canada, and had fallen by the bullet from the ram- 
parts or perished in the snows before Quebec. Their 
gallant leader in debate and arms, Col. Bigelow, village 
blacksmith, patriot, soldier, statesman, had been for six 
weary months a prisoner in its citadel. Fitting it is that 
his monument should stand by the side of that which a 
grateful city has erected to the memory of the later 
soldiers who died to save what he toiled and sufiered to 



32 CENTENNIAL CELEBEATION. 

win. Marking the opening and closing gate-ways of 
the century, they bear witness to the same spirit of self- 
sacrifice, the same devotion to duty and country, in the 
Bons as in the sires. 

Could we read the thought of the most thoughtful of 
that listening group, should we find any prophecy of the 
seven years of war to uphold the Declaration, and the 
seven years of confusion and disorder, not to say 
anarchy, before the blessings of liberty should be 
secured by stable and efiicient government, and the new 
nation assume in fact, as in word, " its equal station 
among the powers of the earth " ? 

EISE ANB GROWTH OF THE KEPHBLIC. 

But the local celebrations, national and local, have 
been had. The memories of Lexington and Concord, 
of Bunker Hill and Boston, by eloquence and poetry 
have been given to the keeping and trust of the new 
century. This day belongs to the rise and growth of 
the Republic, to the causes that made us " one people " 
and a " free people," and to the development and pro- 
gress of the nation for the first century of its life. 
Some contribution to this history, however fragmentary, 
or in the narrow line of one's own study and thought, 
has seemed to me the fitting service of the occasion. 

The rise and growth of the Republic, — I find great 
significance in these words. States grow, they are not 
built ; they are the fruit of time and nature rather than 
of speculation and contrivance. When seemingly built, 



ORATION. 33 

the structure, to endure, must be of materials which the 
experience and reforms and amendments of generations 
have fashioned to the builder's hand. The living state 
grows out of the wants and necessities of a people, and 
is the embodiment and expression of its physical, intel- 
lectual, and moral life. When its capacities and wants 
have outgrown existing forms of government, by 
reform, or oftener by revolution, it adapts government 
to its new demands and necessities. 

Yet, when we look back upon its history it is seen 
that what we call revolution is but evolution, — the slow 
procession and lifting up from a lower to a higher type 
of civil polity. The gods grind slowly. -"As for the 
philosophers," said Lord Bacon, " they construct imagi- 
nary laws for imaginary commonwealths, but their dis- 
courses are as the stars, which give little light because 
they are so high." 

Free institutions are of especially slow growth. "We 
may trace the progress of English liberty for at least 
six and a half centuries, from the morning twilight of 
July 15, 1215, when on the little island of the Thames, 
between Staines and Windsor, the sturdy barons wrested 
from a subject king the great charter of freedom. From 
the gray of that morning streamed the rays which thread- 
ing cloud, tempest, and eclipse have belted the round 
earth with the light of English liberty. Slow, indeed, 
and devioiis its progress as the river which witnessed its 
rismg, which the traveller sees now with languid cur- 
rent, now seemingly at rest, now with gentlest curve, 
now as if wandering back to its fountain, through sweet 



5 



34: CICNTKNNIAI. CKI.KIU; A riON. 

mojulow nml l;nvn, bv battlo-lIoUl ami villa^o sniiv and 
obmvhvarcl, roinul castlo-walls, bv c'c>lloiie-to>vors and 
pabu'o-i^ardons, bonoath iho sbado of ^Vost minster, 
thnnmh the ^vorld's "i\iiuhtv heart," niovini;-, evcM- mov- 
ini;- to the sea. 

The vastness of the theme aj^j^als me. ^Phe brilliant 
historian and son of AVoreester, "vvhom yon hoped to 
have had uith von to-dav, has iiiven some live thonsand 

ft • t^ 

paii'es to the hist(^rv oi' the Ixepnblic to the (.-lose cd' the 
Kevolntion. ^Vo eonline mvselt' within any bonnds, I 
mnst Und; at the historv in a single aspeet, the legal and 
const it ntional, — dryest, perhaps, and least attraetive, but 
not, 1 think, the least nsi^ful. The marvellous material 
growth and expansion, the im-rease in wealth, in num- 
bers, in the eond'orts and luxuries oi' liviuii", in intel- 
leetiial eulture, in seienee, in art, in that union of seience 
and art bv whieh we have snbieeted the laws of nature 

* ft' 

to the will and sorviee oi' man, — have conquered time 
and space, and brought the most distant climes and 
peo}>les into society and neighborhood ; the subduing 
oi^ the wilderness, the hand-to-hand grapple with the 
savage, the stirring incidents of the old French war, of 
the war for independence, of the war for the freedom of 
the seas, of the war for national integritv and life, — 1 
must forcii'o all these. 

The useful, 1 had almost said the only useful wa}' of 
studying our civil institutions is the historical. The 
ditliculty is to know where to begin, — perhaps you will 
think, where to end. 



OltATION. 35 

livv. Dr. Prince, who would write the; clironolog-y of 
Kew Eii^^H.'ind, went, ])iick to tlie creation, and on hiw 
return voya<^e landed four years after the plantin*^ of 
MassachuBelts. Simple as this method may wecm, it was 
nevertheless true that all i)ast history was a contribution 
to the huml)le clironicle he was meanin;^ to write. The 
life of to-day is the fruit of the whole life of the past, 
and the seed of the future. In the divine economy 
thei-e is no waste of light or of power. The line of 
progress, thougli we may not always trace it, is clear to 
Iliiu who sees the end from the beginning, and in whose 
logic, slow it may be ])ut infallible, effect follows cause, 
though ages may intervene. 

Dealing with matters of history, T must use the freedom 
of history ; her words are or should be words of truth 
and soberness. It is among the mysteries that, beings 
of ho])e and {ispiration, we find always the Golden Ago 
in the twilight of the past instead of the kindling dawn 
of the future. There are men who so hug the illusion, 
old enough to be rebuked by Solomon, that " the former 
days were better than these," that had they been present 
at creation, instead of joining with the stars when they 
sang together, and the sons of God when they shouted 
aloud for joy, they would have mourned in solemn 
dirges the sad departure of chaos and old night. 

The world moves, onward and upward, in a spiral line 
it may be, but the world moves. A just sense of the 
wisdom of our fathers, a grateful sense of their labors 
and sacrifices, is healthful for mind and heart ; the 
belief that all wisdom and vh'tue died with them, and 



36 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

that we are degenerate sons of noble sires, is not health- 
ful because it is not true. 



PLANTING OF THE COLOISI^IES. 

To understand the rise and growth of the Republic 
we must go back, for a moment, to the settlement of the 
colonies. J^othing could be more fortunate, or, if we 
see Providence in history as in nature, more provident 
tial, than the time and circumstances of their planting. 
The time was fortunate. Had they been planted soon 
after the discovery of the continent they might have had 
a very different fate and history. 

In the intervening century came the Keformation, 
rousing from its lethargy the mind and conscience of 
Europe, and which, however imperfect its immediate 
fruits, was for all time the assertion of the freedom of 
the individual spirit in its highest relations, and as a 
necessary result, however slowly developed, in its rela- 
tions with the State. 

"With the Reformation came the Bible in the vernacu- 
lar, the open Bible. We shall fail to understand the 
political character of our fathers unless we bear in mind 
that for the first century of our history the Bible was 
to them not only the record of the divine will and pur- 
poses, but the great instrument of their culture, their 
political and civil, their secular as well as religious, law 
and guide ; and we shall not be far out of the way if 
we discover that in some phases of their life they found 
more significance and exliibited a more practical faith in 



ORATION. 37 

the Old Testament than in the 'New ; in Moses, the 
prophets, than in the beatitudes of the Mount. 

We are also to remember the wonderful intellectual 
development of England, in all the spheres of thought, 
in the last quarter of the sixteenth and first quarter of 
the seventeenth century, in which the philosophy of 
Bacon was to the study of nature what the Keformation 
was to religion. 

It was fortunate, be it said with all respect for the 
Church, Catholic or English, that the ^ew England 
colonies, whose policy and thought have so largely 
influenced and moulded those of the Republic, were 
founded by the most protesting of Protestants and the 
most dissenting of Dissenters. Our history needed this 
peculiar element, — the capacity of suffering, the sturdy 
self-reliance, the vigilant outlook of pilgrim and Puri- 
tan, the sterner stuff, the firmer fibre of which the men 
and women were made, who could leave England in the 
days of its material prosperity, the homes of their child- 
hood, the graves of their fathers, facing wilderness, want 
and savage, simply to pray as the Spirit taught them to 
pray ; who, though they might have worshipped in 
solemn temples, in cathedral choirs, the eye ravished 
with beauty and the air with music, preferred the rude 
log-house in the forest or the temple not made with 
hands, and to royal favor the favor of the King of 
kings ; who, instead of basking in sunshine could stand 
out in the cold, and when they got into their new homes 
could bar the doors not only against all sorts of intrud- 
ers, but against bishop and king ; men and women who, 



38 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

though not without the failmgs of their time and faihngs 
of their own which it is not easy to love, had the quah- 
ties which fitted them to be the founders of empire, 
conditores imperiorum, and what is higher and better, 
the founders of free states. 

We must remember also that the colonies were settled 
after the opening of that great conflict between freedom 
and prerogative in England, which in its later stages we 
call the Great Rebellion, and of which the first great 
issue was the denial of any power of taxation except by 
the people represented in Parliament. The colonists 
bore to their new homes the logic and the courage of 
this debate. " England," said Mr. Burke, " is a nation 
which I still hope respects and formerly adored her free- 
dom. The colonists emigrated from you when this part 
of your character was most predominant." 

This great conflict drew to itself all the thought, 
activity, foresight, and vigilance of crown and parlia- 
ment and people, and led to the neglect of the colonies 
for a generation. Wlien the storm subsided for a time 
into the dead sea of despotism and rottenness, and 
attention was drawn to the colonies as possible sources 
of profit, they had acquired a considerable degree of 
strength and stability. They had from necessity become 
adepts in the art and practice of independent local gov- 
ernment, and their confidence in and attachment to it 
were thenceforth the conviction- and passion of their 
history. Indeed the ^ew England colonies during the 
first generation of the planters were substantially inde- 
pendent states. The only practical limitation upon their 



ORATION. 39 

independence was in the powers they conferred upon 
the confederation of the l^ew England colonies, and the 
forming of that confederation was not only the assertion 
of self-government, but the germ and prophecy of a 
new nation. 

ISTor must we leave out of the account the distance of 
the colonies from England, the three thousand miles of 
inhospitable ocean that rolled between ; without steam 
or telegraph equal to half the circuit of the globe to- 
day. To the colonies, remoteness was to some extent 
neglect, and neglect was safety. It took a long rod and 
outstretched arm to reach them. " To every thing there 
is a season and a time to every purpose under the 
heaven." ^o man can venture to say that with the 
present facilities of access and intercourse, the present 
practical neighborhood of England and America, local 
self-government or separate government would have 
been secured. The ocean, mth its depths throbbing 
with command and threat, and the steamer flitting over 
its bosom, swifter than a weaver's shuttle, to enforce 
them would have been not a barrier but an easy path- 
way to aggressive and restraining power. 

There was one gift of England to the colonies, — I 
had almost said her only gift, — that of wise and good 
men. The little island has always been magna parens 
virurn and never more fruitful than when the colonies 
were planted. She sent, or rather by her harsh discipline 
di'ove, to the wilderness some of her choicest spirits, men 
of liberal culture, trained in her best schools and in her 
universities, by whose wisdom, foresight, and goodness 



40 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

were laid the foimdations of that system of educa- 
tion for the whole people which in our progress towards 
free institutions has been the most efiicient motive 
power, our inspiration, our safety ; and so may be for 
the coming generations unless they make the sad mis- 
take of divorcing the culture of the brain from the 
culture of the heart. 

Another thing the planters brought with them was 
the common law of England. On this matter there has 
been, I think, no little mistake and exaggeration. The 
fact is, that the young states could not have lived under 
the common law of England as it was at the opening of 
the seventeenth century : they would have been crushed 
by the weight of the armor. 

What the colonists brought with them was so much 
only of the common law as was adapted to their condi- 
tion. In Virginia it was more closely adhered to ; but 
the common law, which the ^N'ew England colonists did 
not like, was found not to be adapted to their condition. 
Its rules which protected their rights as men, its doc- 
trines and muniments of personal liberty, they adopted 
and used, not always with their brethren or the stranger 
within their gates, but always and often effectively 
against arbitrary power at home. The laws regulating 
the descent of land in the mother country they would 
not have. They saw that the effect of the rule by 
which the real estate passed to the eldest son had been 
to keep property in few hands, and thus to build up and 
sustain an aristocracy. The change of the law by 
which landed estate was divided among the children 



ORATION. 41 

(the eldest son, however, taking two parts) had more 
influence than any other one fact in leading the way to 
democratic institutions. We shall not appreciate its full 
influence unless we recollect how large a proportion of 
what we call property was then real estate. To-day 
colossal fortunes may be built up without a rood of land. 
Indeed, by our system of corporations and corporate 
stocks, vast quantities of landed estate have been trans- 
muted into personal property. 

So much it seemed to me well to say as to the time 
and circumstances of the planting of the colonies and 
of the material of which they were composed. 

FORMS OP GOVEENMEl^T. 

A word should be said as to the forms of government 
under which the plantations grew up to States. 

By the settled principles of public law the country 

occupied by the colonies was part of the dominion 

belonging to the Crown of Great Britain by right of 

discovery ; with perhaps the additional title in the case 

of 'New York of right by conquest from the Dutch. 

The title to every acre of land was held immediately or 

mediately by grants from the Crown. Whatever title 

the Indian may have had to the soil, it was the exclusive 

right of the government to extinguish it, and to exclude 

all persons from gaining any title by grants from the 

natives. With the moral basis of this law I have not to 

deal. It is the law recognized by all civilized states, 

and aflarmed by our highest judicial tribunal. 
6 



42 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Again, all civil authority used in the colonies was 
derived from the Crown as representing the sovereignty 
of the British Empire. The voluntary compacts, as 
those entered into in the harbor of Cape Cod and in 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Kew Haven, however 
important in the lessons they taught of the true founda- 
tion of government in the consent of the governed, 
were temporary only and clearly in conflict with the 
settled law of the time. 

The different forms of colonial governments, the 
charter, the provincial, and the proprietary, are worthy 
of attention as indicating the want of any uniform and 
stable policy in the parent country, and especially in the 
most important feature of all, the extent of self-govern- 
ment granted and control reserved by the granting 
power ; though on this last point it should be remarked 
that there was nothing Crown or Parliament esteemed 
as less binding than the solemn contract contained in a 
colonial charter. 

Some of the charters, had they been held sacred, 
would have given the people of the colonies govern- 
ments substantially independent. The charter creating 
the body politic by the name of " the Governor and 
Company of the Massachusetts Bay in 'New England " 
when the corporation was removed and the charter 
transferred, so that the powers of government might be 
used by the actual settlers, with the breadth of construc- 
tion they gave to the powers granted and the rigid 
limitation of the powers reserved, really created an 
independent State. 



ORATION. 43 

The charter granted by Charles II. to Rhode Island 
established so free a government that it continued to be, 
with slight changes, the organic law of the State for 
sixty-five years after the separation ; and for freedom in 
matters of religious concernment, was in advance of 
some of the present constitutions of the States of the 
Union. But whatever the difference of forms of gov- 
ernment, into the consideration of which I have not time 
to enter, there was in all the pledge " that all subjects of 
the Crown who should become inhabitants in the col- 
onies and their children born there should enjoy all the 
liberties, franchises, and immunities of free and natural 
subjects, as if they and every one of them were born 
within the realm of England," — words of large import 
which England forgot, but the colonists did not. 

The other fact to be remarked is that either by these 
charters or by their own acts and the acquiescence of 
the Crown and Parliament, they established representa- 
tive assemblies, which slowly but firmly absorbed to 
themselves the powers of government, as the House of 
Commons in England has done by holding the purse 
and the power to say " we give and grant." 

Much of the work of human life is like that of 
Penelope on the shroud of Laertes, — the unravelling in 
the night what was woven in the day. But the history 
of the colonies from the time of their planting to the 
close of the French War in 1763, with retrocession here 
and there, was a struggle for self-government, freedom, 
and the right to grow on the one hand, and for the 
tightening of bonds and repression on the other. 



4A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

ESTTERIOK LLFE OF THE COLO]S!TES. 

The cii'cumstances and conditions of the interior life 
of the colonies, which seem at first view adverse to their 
growth and material prosperity, were most influential in 
moulding the character of their institutions and opening 
the way to ultimate freedom and independence. The 
subduing of the wilderness, the conflicts with the sav- 
age, and, when the savage was quiet, with each other, 
bred in them hardihood and self-reliance, and a certain 
aptitude not to say love of combat with sword, tongue, 
and pen. The separation and isolation within the colo- 
nies, of town, precinct, and school district, gave the 
habit and practice of local government. Wherever 
there were people enough to have a meeting-house, 
school-house, tavern and store, grew up a little democ- 
racy, and these democracies, represented in the legisla- 
ture, made up the State. 

This attachment to local government, and jealousy 
and distrust of outside power by the colonists, is the 
key to and solution of much of their future history. 
Beneficent in its early results, and later when kept 
within reasonable bounds, it has in the great exigencies 
of our nation's history crippled our strength and imper- 
illed our safety. They were attached to their charters, 
because they secured to them the rights and immunities 
of English subjects ; but their construction of the char- 
ters was always in the direction of self-government ; 
and to the laws of England, which restricted this right 
or their rights of trade and commerce, they gave the 



OEATION. 45 

smallest share of obedience practicable. In every stage 
of their history, there is constantly outcropping the 
opinion and sentiment that the young States were 
planted by their care, watered by their tears, preserved 
by their vigilance, the fruit of their labors, and that any 
attempt of the parent country to control and subordin- 
ate and sacrifice their interests to her own, was not only 
in violation of their rights as English subjects, but of 
their higher rights as men. 



ACTS OF NAVIGATION^ AND LAWS OF TRADE. 

Such was the colonial policy of England, as illus- 
trated in her acts of navigation and laws of trade ; she 
neglected the colonies, except when they grew to be 
sources of profit to herself, to her trade and manufac- 
tm-es ; and then came the policy of monopoly and 
repression. 

I remember being deeply impressed by reading some 
remarks made by Mr. Huskisson, one of the wisest of 
English statesmen, in 1826, in the House of Commons : 
" It is generally believed," he said, " that the attempt to 
tax our American colonies, without their consent, was 
the sole cause of the separation of those colonies from 
the mother country. But if the whole history of the 
period between the year 1763 and the year 1773 be 
attentively examined, it will, I think, be abundantly evi- 
dent that, however the attempt at taxation may have 
contributed somewhat to hasten the explosion, the train 
had been long laid in the severe and exasperating 



46 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

efforts of this country to enforce, with inopportune and 
increasing vigor, the strictest and most annoying regu- 
lations of our colonial and navigation code." 

" Every petty adventure in which the colonists em- 
barked was viewed by the merchants of this country 
and the Board of Trade of that day as an encroachment 
on the commercial monojDoly of Great Britain. The 
professional subtlety of lawyers and the practical 
ingenuity of custom-house officers were constantly at 
work in ministering to the jealous but mistaken views 
of our seaports. Blind to the consequences elsewhere, 
they persevered in their attempts to put down the spirit 
of commercial enterprise in the people of ^ew England 
until those attempts roused a very different spirit, — that 
spirit which ventured to look for political independence 
from the issue of a successful rebellion." 

My own studies and reflection have led me to think 
that the laws of navigation and trade were, if not 
the proximate, perhaps the predominant and most 
efficient cause of separation. 

The importance of their study is obvious. They 
show the earlier and later policy of England towards 
her colonies, her settled purpose to subordinate their 
commerce, trade, and manufactures to her own. They 
touched all the colonies, the Southern as well as the 
Northern, the tobacco of Virginia and the rice of 
South Carolina, as well as the lumber, fish, and cattle of 
'Ne^Y England, thus indicating to them that there were 
vital matters in which theh interests were one. 

Mr. Webster said, — I do not know whether the 



ORATION. 47 

remark has got into print,— that the best way to study 
the history of England was in her statutes at large. I 
cannot embody the provisions of these statutes in 
an address, but must content myself with a very 
general and, of course, imperfect outline. 

The commercial monopoly did not begin with acts of 
Parliament, but with orders of the king, in council. 

Soon after tobacco was imported into England 
(1621), heavy duties were laid upon it by orders of the 
crown. As this " daft " king in his " counterblast " had 
announced that the habit of smoking proceeded directly 
from the Evil Spirit, it is strange he did not strike at 
the root, and forbid the raising of the tempter's seduct- 
ive enchantment. The planters sent it to Holland, when 
came a new order that no tobacco or other product of the 
colonies should thenceforth be carried into any foreign 
ports, until they were first landed in England and the 
customs paid. 

The beginning of restrictive legislation, curiously 
enough, was with the convention or republican parlia- 
ment of 1651, which confined the trade with the planta- 
tions to English or colonial built ships, belonging to 
English subjects, or subjects of the plantations, with 
the exception of such articles as should be imported 
directly from the original place of manufacture in 
Europe. This was a regulation of commerce springing 
from the rivalry of England with Holland, then the 
great carrier of the world, but as the colonies were not 
then building ships the result was they had to pay the 
English carrier his own price. 



48 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The Act of the 12th Charles H., two years 
after his restoration (for the EngUsh Statute Book 
ignores the reign of her greatest soldier and ruler), 
affirming the same restrictions as to ships, ordered that 
sugars, tobacco, and other enumerated articles, products 
of the plantations, should, if exported, instead of being 
carried duectly to the place of consumption, be first 
landed in England, Wales, or other British plantation. 
To the list of enumerated articles additions were made, 
from time to time, of molasses, tar, pitch, turpentine, 
rice, furs, and many others. The object and effect of 
these laws was to force the colonies to sell their 
products in the English market only, for they could not 
be sold to any other people without paying the charges 
of freight to Great Britain, the port dues and commis- 
sions there, and a second freight to the country of 
sale. In substance, the command was, sell to us or not 
at all. 

So much for the export trade, and the market for the 
sale of colonial products. An act two years later 
(1663) limited the import trade and commerce of the 
colonies, providing that no commodity of the growth or 
manufacture of Europe should be imported into the 
king's plantations, but what shall have been shipped in 
England, Wales, or town of Berwick, and in English 
built shipping, and carried directly to the plantations. 
That is, you may sell only to us and you must buy only 
of us, whether the thing purchased be of our growth or 
manufacture or not. If a man went from Boston to 
Scotland to buy carpeting, he must first ship to Eng- 



ORATION. 49 

land, pay the dues and commissions there, then find an 
EngUsh ship to carry it to his home, however much 
better or cheaper freight could be found elsewhere. 

In the preamble to this act, among the reasons given 
for its adoption, are the keeping the colonies in " a 
firmer dependence upon England, and the ' vent ' of 
English woolens and other manufactures and com- 
modities." 

To this point of time the intercourse of colony with 
colony had been left free, but in 1672 certain colonial 
products, transported from one colony to another, were 
subjected to duties ; for example, sugars, tobacco, and 
cotton wool. 

In the view of the colonies these acts were not only 
destructive to their interests, but in violation of their 
charters, which secured to them the liberties, franchises, 
and immunities of English subjects. In Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island they were pretty faithfully disobeyed, 
and in the other ]S^ew England colonies so generally 
that in 1675 the Lord's committee of the colonies in- 
quired of the Lord Treasurer, Danby, with a sort of 
grim humor, " whether the commisioners of the customs 
considered the Acts as extending to ^ew England ?" 

Representations were about the same time made to 
the King, by English merchants and manufacturers, that 
the inhabitants of New England disregarded the Acts 
of Navigation and traded freely with all parts of 
Europe, by which the navigation and revenues of Eng- 
land were greatly injured, and their dependence on the 

parent country rendered less secure, if not totally 

7 



50 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

destroyed ; which being interpreted meant, "We can't 
sell them our goods at our own prices ; they have the 
folly to buy where they can buy cheapest. Their prayer 
was that the people of ISTew England might be com- 
jDelled to obey the laws, that is, buy of them only. The 
committee on plantations having heard the complaints, 
resolved that " the Acts should be enforced." But it 
was — as we have discovered in this age of resolutions — 
one thing to resolve and another to execute. And in 
1677, we find Edward Randolph, in answer to inquu'ies 
of the committee of plantations, stating that in Massa- 
chusetts no notice was taken of the Acts of ]^a\T[gation 
or any other laws made in England for the regulation 
of trade, and adding, " All nations have free liberty 
to come into its ports and vend their commodities 
without any restraint, and in this as well as other 
things that Government would make the world believe 
they are a free State and do act in all matters accord- 
ingly." 

The agent of Massachusetts wi'ote from England 
" that without the laws were complied with there can 
nothing be expected but a total breach and all the 
storms of displeasure that may be." The General 
Cornet, in reply, acknowledged that they had not been 
observed, " because they had never received their assent, 
and therefore were not obligatory. They apprehended 
them to be an invasion of the rights, liberties, and prop- 
erties of the subjects of His Majesty in the colony, they 
not being represented in parliament." They say, how- 
ever, that as His Majesty had signified his pleasure that 



ORATION. 51 

the Acts should be observed in Massachusetts, they had 
made provision by a law of the colony that it should be 
attended to. This provision was the Colony Act of 
October, 1677. As it was frequently stated in the con- 
troversies resulting in separation, that the power of 
parliament in the matter of regulating commerce and 
the external taxation of the colonies had never been 
questioned, and so affirmed by Franklin in his examina- 
tion before the House of Commons in 1766, and by 
Macaulay, apparently upon his authority, a century later, 
it may be well to note this declaration of the General 
Court of Massachusetts, as one of many instances in 
which that power was denied. 

The revolution of 1688, which did so much to 
enthrone " liberty in law " in England, proved of little 
advantage to the colonies ; none whatever in matters of 
trade and commerce. The Dutch Mng brought with 
him none of the spirit of commercial freedom of Hol- 
land. In 1696, when his attention had been withdrawn 
for a time from the affairs of the continent, the Board 
of Trade was authorized to inquire into the condition of 
the plantations, as well with regard to the administra- 
tion of government, as in relation to commerce, and 
(here we have again the policy of England in a nut- 
shell) "how these colonies might be rendered most 
beneficial to this kingdom." An act was passed about 
the same time for the vigorous enforcement of the Acts 
of N^avigation, authorizing, among other things, officers 
" to visit, search, and seize, vessels and their cargoes, and 
to enter all houses and storehouses, to seize goods 



52 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

illegally impoi*tecl, and declaring any law or usage of 
the colonies in conflict with the Acts of Navigation, or 
with any other law hereafter to he j^f^-^sed in this 
Tcingdom relating to the plantations, null and void." 

But the genius of enterprise and industry in the Kew 
England colonies was irrepressible. 

In the early part of the eighteenth century the 
colonies, especially those of New England, had become 
engaged in a lucrative trade with the French, Spanish, 
and Dutch West Indies, the northern colonies carrying 
to them fish, lumber, grain, horses and cattle, and taking 
in exchange the products of those islands, rum, sugar, 
and molasses. 

The English sugar-planters complained of this trade 
as injurious to them, and in 1733 Parliament imposed 
heavy duties on rum, sugar, and molasses, imported from 
foreign colonies ; duties so onerous as to have resulted 
in prohibition and the entire cutting ofi" this branch of 
their trade, had the laws been fully enforced, but 
happily they could not be fuUy enforced ; the protecting 
ocean rolled between. 

This brief outline may give you some idea of the 
attempts of English merchants to monopolize the trade 
in the jjroducts or raw material of the colonies. 

Not less greedy and grasping were the manufacturers 
of England. No sooner did the colonies begin to 
manufacture for themselves, than the English manufac- 
turers determined to prevent any interference with their 
own industries, and this not by making cheaper or better 



ORATION. 53 

goods, but by depriving the colonies of any right or 
power to compete with them. 

In 1699 the policy of repression began by an Act 
providing that no wool yarn or woollen manufactm-e 
should be shipped or laden in the colonies, in order to 
be transported from thence to any place whatsoever. 

In 1719 the House of Commons declared that " the 
erecting manufactories in the colonies tended to lessen 
their dependence on Great Britain." Language has 
been said to be an instrument for the concealment of 
thought. The disguise is too thin here : We should 
wi'ite, to lessen the profits of our business. 

In 1731 complaints were made to parliament that 
" the colonies were carrying on trade, and setting up 
manufactories detrimental to the trade, navigation and 
manufactures of Great Britain." The Board of Trade, 
being directed to inquire, reported that such was the 
fact, enmnerating among the manufactures, those of 
wool and flax, iron, paper, hats and leather. I find, 
however, no legislation immediately followmg the 
report. 

In 1732 the company of hatters in London complained 
to parliament that hats in large quantities were made in 
I^ew England and exported to S])ain, Portugal, and the 
British West India Islands. Their influence procured 
an Act (1732), first, to prevent the exportation of hats 
from the colonies to foreign countries ; secondly, from 
being carried from one colony to another ; and thirdly, 
because folly was capable of a further step, hats were 
forbidden being " shipped or laden upon a horse, cart or 



54 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

other carriage with the intent to be exported to any other 
plantation, or to any place whatever." It was further 
provided that no hatter in the colonies should employ 
more than two apprentices at once, or make hats unless 
he had served an apprentice to the trade seven years ; 
and that no black or negro should make a hat. One is 
led to ask what sort of brains were under the hats of 
England, to deal thus with colonies who, as Montesquieu 
expresses it, " had become great nations in the forests 
they were sent to inhabit." 

The iron manufacturers were equally anxious that the 
dependence of the colonies on the mother country 
should not be lessened. In 1750 pig u'on and bar iron 
might be imported into England duty free, but parlia- 
ment prohibited the erection or continuance of any mill 
or other engine for slitting or rolling iron, or any plating 
forge, or any furnace for making steel, under the penalty 
of two hundred pounds. ^ay, more, every such 
engine, plating forge, and furnace was declared a com- 
mon nuisance, to be abated by the governors of the 
colonies, on the information of two witnesses on oath, 
within thirty days, or the governors to forfeit five 
hundred pounds for each neglect of duty. 

These statutes are a faithful and abiding record of 
the dealings of England with her American colonies, of 
the narrow, jealous and selfish policy she pursued up to 
the time of separation in the regulation of their com- 
merce, trade, and industries, of her settled purpose to 
use, restrict or suppress them for her own aggrandize- 
ment. I confess I could never read the record without 



ORATION. 55 

wi'ath and indignation ; and I do not find myself in a 
very amiable mood in reviewing her dealings with us 
since the separation. "With all my reverence for her 
jurisprudence, and especially her muniments of personal 
liberty, her literature, her great masters in every depart- 
ment of thought, for her social and domestic vu'tues, 
to us she has been less than magnanimous, less than 
just. 

It is of no use to say such were the policy and wisdom 
of the times. The colonial policy of France, Spain and 
Portugal was in the spirit of their own governments at 
home ; that of England in direct conflict with the sjoirit 
of her constitution. England was capable of wiser and 
better things. The questions involved were to be 
settled, not by a broad political economy of the freedom 
of commerce and industry, but by the simplest, most 
elementary principles of justice and right. And the 
folly and injustice of the whole colonial policy were laid 
bare by the wisest and profoundest of her writers on 
economical science, Adam Smith, in his lectures at the 
University of Glasgow, in 1748, afterwards embodied in 
the " Wealth of Nations," published in the year 1776 ; 
to the industries of the world a new declaration of inde- 
pendence. At the close of his great chapter on the 
colonial policy he denounces the English laws of trade 
as " a manifest violation of the most sacred rights of 
mankind." 

VIGOROUS EKFORCEMENT OF THE N^AVIGATION" LAWS. 

What our fathers called the French war was the final 



56 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

struggle between England and Fi-ance for dominion in 
America. 

After the capture of Quebec, which really settled the 
issue, the claim was made in parliament to raise revenue 
in America to meet some share of the burdens the war 
had imposed on the mother country, and to defray the 
expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the 
colonies. 

The efforts and sacrifices the colonies had themselves 
made in the war were well known. Thirty thousand 
colonial soldiers had fallen by disease or the sword. 
The expenditures of Massachusetts alone had exceeded 
by two and a half millions of dollars the sum reimbursed 
by parliament, and this without resort to paper money. 
She had kept an average of from four to seven thousand 
men in the field, besides men for garrison duty and 
recruits for the British regiments. Parliament, in the 
year 1763, voted more than seven hundred thousand 
dollars to repay the expenses of the provinces in the 
last year of the war, — a direct admission that they had 
contributed to the common cause more than their just 
proportion. 

Prudence would have said to the British ministry, 
"We must deal gently with the colonies. They no 
longer need our protection ; they have no longer the 
French and the Indian on their western frontier. 
French statesmen and English had predicted that the 
taking of Canada by England might result in then* 
independence. With almost prophetic sagacity Yer- 
gennes had said, "England will repent of having 



ORATION. 57 

removed the only check that could keep her colonies in 
awe. They stand no longer in need of her protection. 
She will call on them to contribute towards supporting 
the burdens they have helped to bring on her, and they 
will answer by striking off all dependence." 

Ministry and people undervalued then, as they had 
ever before and have ever since, the capacity and spirit 
of Englishmen born on American soil. This sense of 
superiority had been constantly shown to the American 
officers and troops in the seven years' war, and had 
alienated and wounded them. On the other hand, the 
intermixture of the soldiers of the colonies and the pur- 
suit of a common end had tended to remove, to some 
extent, local prejudices, and to give to the colonists a 
sense of common interests. 

In 1760 the British ministry determined to enforce 
the JSTavigation Acts with greater rigor. Ko time could 
be more inopportune for such a purpose, and this, per- 
haps, explains why it was selected. Orders were sent 
to the officers of the customs to enforce them, especially 
in Massachusetts where they had been openly disobeyed. 
For this purpose the officers applied to the Superior 
Court of the Province for writs of assistance, as they 
were called, to enable officers to break open shops, 
warehouses and dwelling-houses in search of goods 
imported in violation of these laws. 

The legality of the writs was argued before the 

Superior Court, James Otis appearing for the merchants 

of Boston to contest their issue. The traditions would 

show that though the legality of the writ was keenly 
8 



58 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

contested, the more effective part of the argument with 
the people was the vigorous and eloquent attack upon 
the justice and validity of the whole body of the laws 
the writ was sought to enforce, as in violation of the 
charter, of the English constitution, and of natural 
justice. 

There can be no doubt of its effect, not only upon his 
hearers, but upon the public mind and heart throughout 
the continent. It struck a chord to which all the colonies 
were responsive. It touched grievances they all had 
suffered, and for the removal of which unity of action 
was the only hope. John Adams puts the matter Avith 
an intensity which, with the old man eloquent, seems to 
have grown with years, " Otis was a flame of fire. Ameri- 
can independence was then and there born. Then and 
there was the first scene of the first act of opposition 
to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain." Treating the 
drama of which he speaks as the united opposition of 
the colonies, the remark is just. 

There can be no doubt with the careful student of our 
history that the practical grievances sustained by the 
Acts of JS'avigation and of Trade were many and mani- 
fold, as compared with any imposed or sought to be 
imposed by internal taxation. They swathed the grown 
man with the bandages of childhood. They dwarfed 
and crippled the growth of the colonies. They were 
not merely taxes on property acquired, but a denial of 
the right to acquire it. To the Northern colonies who 
had no great staples and could not live by agricultiu-e 
alone, they were a denial of the means of living. 



ORATION. 59 

The. difficulty was that the power of parliament to 
regulate the commerce of the empire had been too 
generally conceded, and it was not readily seen how 
these Acts were to be taken from under this general 
and comprehensive power. When, however, attention 
was drawn to the matter of internal taxation, and the 
attempt to raise revenue by acts of a parliament in which 
the colonies had no voice, it was perceived that the same 
objection was applicable to any laws whose direct pur- 
pose or effect was to raise a revenue from the colonies. 
The colonists were slow, however, in reaching this 
result. In the report of the committee on colonial 
rights in the Colonial Convention of 1765, at ^ew 
York, it is acknowledged " that the parliament collect- 
ively considered as consisting of king, lords and com- 
mons, are the supreme legislature of the whole empire, 
and as such have an undoubted jurisdiction over the 
colonies, so far as is consistent with our essential rightSy 
of which also they are and must be the final judges, 
and even the applications and petitions to the king and 
parliament to implore relief in our present difficulties 
will be an ample recognition of our subjection to and 
dependence on that legislature." 

Dr. Franklin, in his examination in the House of 
Commons, in 1776, — the most striking of all the exhi- 
bitions of his wonderful shrewdness and tact, — declared 
that "the authority of parliament was allowed to be 
valid in all cases except such as should lay internal 
taxes. It was never disputed in duties to regulate 
commerce." One must speak with trembling under the 



60 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

shadow of so great a name, but, as before shown, the 
records are otherwise. ISTor can the distinction Franklin 
draws between the external duty laid on a commodity 
and an internal tax, to wit, that the payment of the first 
is voluntary and the other forced, — voluntary because 
the subject is not compelled to buy the commodity after 
the duty is added, — be regarded as sound. As applica- 
ble to the necessaries or comforts of life, there is no 
difference. The House of Assembly, IN'ew York, put 
this matter with great clearness and force the year 
before : " For with submission, since all impositions^ 
whether they be internal taxes or duties paid for what 
we consume, equally diminish the estates upon which 
they are charged, what avails it to any people by which 
of them they are impoverished ? Everything will be 
given to preserve life ; and though there is a diversity 
in the means, yet the whole wealth of a country may 
be as effectually drawn off by the exaction of duties as 
by any other tax upon their estates." 

The declaration of rights by the Continental Congress 
of 1774, after claiming for the colonies free and exclu- 
sive legislation in all cases of taxation and internal 
policy, indicates that on the subject of external taxation 
there had been great change and progress of opinion. 

" But from the necessity of the case," says the decla- 
ration, " and a regard to the mutual interests of both 
countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such 
Acts of the British parliament as are hona fide restrained 
to the regulation of our external commerce, for the 
purpose of securing the commercial advantages of the 



ORATION. 61 

whole empire to the mother country, and the commercial 
benefits of its respective members ; excluding every idea 
of taxation, internal or external, for raising a revenue on 
the subjects in America without their consent." It is safe 
to say that this distinction would soon have been found 
unsatisfactory ; that some of the most oppressive of the 
laws of trade could not be said to have distinctly for 
their object the raising of revenue, but to secure to the 
English subjects on the other side of the water monopo- 
lies in trade and manufactures, not only offensive to 
the pride, but destructive to the interests of the English 
subjects in America. 

They could not and ought not to have tolerated the 
distinction. If a man had brains and could raise wool 
he had a right to make a hat to cover them, and if he 
found iron ore in his soil he had a right to make a pot 
to boil his fowl or pork. These are natural home-bred 
rights, which no refinement of logic or policy and no 
force of precedent can take away or impair. 

INTERlSrAL TAXATIO:^'. 

The enforcement of the Navigation Laws was but 
part of the plan now entered upon to raise a revenue 
from the colonies. That for internal taxation soon 
followed, and underlying these a purpose and design so 
to modify the government of the colonies as to bring 
them more dhectly under the power of parliament and 
crown. In the winter of 1764 a resolution was adopted, 
without a negative vote, by parliament, that it might 



52 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

" be proper to charge certain stamp duties in the colo- 
nies." On the 13th of February, 1765, the bill for the 
Stamp Act was introduced in the House of Commons. 
On the 27th it passed, with less resistance than usually 
was made to a common turnpike bill. On the 8th of 
March the bill was agreed to by the House of Lords 
without debate or dissenting vote. On the 22d of 
March it received the royal assent by commission, the 
king being, as now understood, insane. The distinction 
between internal and external taxation, if seen, was 
utterly disregarded by the ruling statesmen of England, 
if men may be called statesmen whose course was 
marked by such pride, weakness, vacillation, and 
capacity of doing the wrong thing almost every time, 
and the right thing at the wrong time, as char- 
acterized the British ministry and King from the 
close of the French war to the peace of 1783. Such 
a plan had been suggested to Robert Walpole and 
William Pitt, but their robust sense had rejected it. 
We could not state to-day the impolicy of these mea- 
sures more forcibly than Walpole did years before they 
were adopted ; " I will leave the taxation of the Ameri- 
cans for some of my successors Avho may have more 
courage than I have, and less a friend to commerce than 
I am. It has been a maxim with me during my admin- 
istration to encourage the trade of the American 
colonies to the utmost latitude ; nay, it has been neces- 
sary to pass over some irregularities in their trade with 
Europe ; for by encouraging them to an extensive, 
growing foreign commerce, if they gain £500,000, 1 am 



ORATION. 63 

convinced that in two years afterwards, full £250,000 of 
this gain will be in His Majesty's exchequer, by the 
labor and product of this kingdom, as immense quanti- 
ties of every kind of our manufactures go thither, and 
as they increase in the foreign American trade more of 
our produce will be wanted. This is taxing them more 
agreeably to their own constitution and laws." 

The entrance upon the policy of the internal taxation 
of the colonies seemed to attract as little attention with 
the people of England as with parliament. The ques- 
tion whether John Wilkes should have a seat from 
Middlesex was deemed of much higher moment. But 
whatever the state of opinion and feeling in England, 
in America such had been the progress of opinion that 
the logic of the policy was substantially settled, and the 
practical question was the mode of resistance. With 
the enforcement of the navigation laws superadded, 
submission to men like our fathers was impossible. One 
party or the other must give way. These were the 
entering wedges ; the acts of the next ten years were 
but the blows of the beetle. 

The repeal of the Stamp Act was but a lull in the 
storm, and accompanied as it was by the assertion of 
the right of parliament to bind the colonies in all cases 
whatever, and followed by the declaration of the leader 
of the ministerial party in the House of Commons 
(Charles Townsend), "that America should be regu- 
lated and deprived of its militating and contradictory 
charters, and its royal governors, judges, and attorneys 



64 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

rendered independent of the people," was an act of 
supremest folly. 

The repeal was followed the next year by what was 
known as the Townsend Revenue Act, imposing duties 
on glass, paper, painters' colors, and tea, making pro- 
visions for the execution of the laws already existing, 
for establishing a Board of Customs at Boston to collect 
revenue, and for legalizing wiits of assistance. The 
line of separation distinctly drawn, discussion, increas- 
ing in intensity and bitterness, served only to widen the 
breach, till the colonies reached the conclusion that there 
was no safety in conceding to parliament any legislative 
power over them. 

The suggestion of representatives from the colonies 
in parliament was impracticable. The distance, with 
the then means of intercourse, was too great, and the 
power and influence of the home government and repre- 
sentation would have utterly overshadowed them. 

And the other system thought of for granting supplies 
to the crown by the colonial legislatures would, as De- 
Lolme suggested to Franklin, have proved unsatisfac- 
tory to the people of England, as tending directly to 
make the crown independent of the House of Commons. 
The only solution of the difficulties was separation. 

If one were asked to state with precision the legal 
cause of separation he would find it difficult to give an 
answer. The statesmen and jurists of the colonies and 
of later times have never agreed upon the matter. 

It is difficult to say that taxation without representa- 
tion was, an hundred years ago, a violation of the rights 



OKATION. 65 

of the colonists as English subjects. It has oeen esti- 
mated that not more than a tenth part of the English 
people were represented in parliament. Wliole com- 
munities, like the city of Manchester, had no representa- 
tion. In spite of the splendid declamation of Chatham 
it is not plain to see how there can be sovereign power 
without the power to tax. 

" Let," said Lord Chatham, " the sovereign authority 
of this country over the colonies be asserted in as strong 
terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to every 
point of legislation whatever, that we may bind their 
trade, confine their manufactures, and exercise every 
power whatever, except that of taking money out of 
their pockets without their own consent." As matter of 
good sense the distinction cannot be maintained. If I 
am forbidden to use brain or hand to get money into my 
pocket it is useless to complain of a tax wliich assumes 
to take it out. 

It does not meet the difficulty to say that " taxes were 
a voluntary gift and grant of the commons alone." The 
proposition was not quite true, for the concm-rence of 
the lords and the assent of the king were necessary to 
a tax. But if true, it was also true that the House of 
Commons was part, and the most effective part, of the 
sovereign power of England. 

]N'ow, assuming the existence of a constitution in 

England paramount to an Act of parliament, which 

means that an Act of parliament including king, lords 

and commons may be declared void by the courts, it is 

9 



66 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

not easy to see that the navigation laws were not within 
the sovereign power to regulate commerce. 

It is easy to see that they were most flagrant abuses 
of power, that they were in violation of the spirit of 
the colonial charters, that they were destructive of the 
liberty, happiness, and growth of the colonies, that they 
justified and required revolution, and appeal from the 
constitution of England to the elder charter, on which 
the divine hand had written the sacred rights of human 
nature. Charles James Fox said, that " among the con- 
troversies that had arisen there is no other in which the 
natural rights of men on the one hand and the authority 
of artificial institutions on the other were so fairly put in 
issue," and the united colonies an hundred years ago to- 
day, declaring the causes which impelled them to the 
separation, put the issue on the simple ground of 
natural rights ; averring that to secure these rights, 
*' governments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed ; that 
whenever any form of government becomes destructive 
of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it." 

The declaration was itself the act of separation. It 
recognized as an existing fact the union of the colonies 
into " one people." It was " one people " dissolving the 
political bands that had connected them with another, 
and assuming its separate and equal station among the 
powers (or nations) of the earth. " Such had been the 
revolution of opinion as to the power of parliament, 
that the declaration ignores its existence, refusing to 



ORATION. 67 

recognize that the colonies had ever had any connection 
with or dependence upon it. Parliament is known in 
the declaration by the word * others.' It charges the 
king with having combined with ' others ' to subject us 
to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unac- 
knowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts 
of pretended legislation." 

The union of the colonies was necessary for their 
common defence and protection, and for admission into 
and intercourse with the society of nations. The differ- 
ences, the local prejudices, resulting from their charters 
and forms of government, their manners, religion, tastes, 
trades, and domestic policies, were for a time forgotten, 
or at least waived in the presence of common interest 
and peril, and of a common longing for larger liberty 
and freer development. It required no great delibera- 
tion or sagacity to decide what should be the character 
of their institutions or the forms of their governments. 

Republican institutions were not more their purpose 
and aspiration than the necessity of their condition. 
The power of the crown taken away, there was left no 
material out of which to construct lords temporal or 
spiritual, or court or king. Indeed, so democratic had 
their governments grown to be that it is marvellous to 
see how slight a change of frame-work was necessary 
to convert the Province of Massachusetts Bay into the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

GOVERXJUENT TS THE REVOLUTION". 

There was a new nation, but without established 



68 CENTENNIAL CELESRATION. 

government. The articles of confederation, though 
their preparation was begun in 1776, were not submitted 
to the States till ]S"ovember, 1777, and, requiring the 
unanimous consent of the States, did not go into effect 
till March 1, 1781 ; less than eight months before the 
surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his army to the com- 
bined forces of France and the United States, and the 
substantial termination of the war. There was, how- 
ever, a government, of somewhat indefinite powers, but 
a national government. It is sometimes called a revo- 
lutionary government, but in the instructions given by 
the provincial and state assemblies to their delegates 
will be found, I think, authority for the powers actually 
used by the Continental Congress. 

The resolution of the Provincial Congress of ISTew 
Jersey, laid before Congress on the 28th of June, 1776, 
may be cited as an example : — 

"Unite with the delegates of the other colonies in 
declaring the united colonies independent of Great 
Britain ; entering into a confederation for imion and 
common defence ; making treaties with foreign nations 
for commerce and assistance, and to take such other 
measures as may ajDpear to them and you necessary for 
these great ends ; promising to suj^port them with the 
whole force of this jDrovince ; always observing, what- 
ever plan of confederacy you enter into, the regulating 
the internal policies of this province is to be reserved to 
the Colony Legislature." 

But if not by original grant its powers were certainly 
used with the acquiescence of the new States. If 



ORATION. 69 

springing from the exigencies of the new nation, 
Government would have exjoanded its powers to meet 
its exigencies, as did the Puritan parhament of 1645, 
and the convention of 1688. It declared independence, 
it carried on war, it organized a national army and 
navy ; it established prize courts ; it emitted bills of 
credit and contracted debts on national account ; it 
regulated duties on imports and exports ; it made 
treaties, it formed foreign alliances ; it created for six 
months a dictatorship ; but it consisted of a single 
house of delegates from the States, each State having 
an equal vote. Its great defect was the want of power 
to execute its own decrees — if it made a requisition for 
troops, to enforce it, or if it made a requisition for 
money, to levy and collect a tax. 

Had there been power in the JS^ational Government to 
use at its will and discretion the resources of the 
country, the war might have been brought to a much 
earlier close and without foreign aid. 

THE CONFEDERATION'. 

I am entering upon the familiar paths of history, and 
must hasten my steps. One lesson which our history 
constantly teaches us, I must venture to repeat ; it is 
the deeply-rooted and excessive attachment of our 
fathers to local government, through all its gradations, 
from the school district to the State ; with what firm- 
ness, even under the pressure of imminent danger to 
liberty and life, they refused to give to the Continental 
Congress adequate powers to carry on the war ; how, 



70 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

when the war was over, they fell back within their old 
boundaries ; with what reluctance they conceded to the 
national government its most essential functions ; by 
what close and narrow construction they sought to limit 
and restrict the powers so reluctantly granted ; and 
how, when the powers of the central government have 
been strained, the people, the exigency past, fall back 
upon their old love, caring not so much for government 
for the people as government hy the people ! 

It was out of this state of conviction, habit, and 
feeling that the confederation was begotten, born, and 
died. It fell from its inherent weakness. Its defects 
may be stated in a word : — 

It was a league of States in wliich they had equal 
power. 

It was without power to regulate commerce. 

It legislated for States and governments instead of 
the individual subject or citizen. 

But its greatest vice and weakness was the want of 
power to construe and execute its own laws. It had an 
indefinite discretion to call for men and money. It 
could not command obedience, and, as " government is 
not influence merely," it did not receive it. Without 
power to provide for the national debt to foreign nations 
or its own citizens, it was, from birth to death, at home 
and abroad, a shame and a reproach. 

THE COISrSTITUTION. 

But this ugly adversity had a jewel in its breast. 
Out of this nettle danger we plucked the flower, safety. 



ORATION. 71 

Out of this confusion and disorder came the Constitu- 
tion and soUd union and living nationaUty. The people 
were very slow in reaching the conclusion that radical 
change was necessary. I do not think it can be fairly 
said that a majority of the people were in favor of the 
Constitution. Mr. John Quincy Adams, in his oration 
on the Jubilee of the Constitution, declared in his em- 
phatic way that " the Constitution was extorted from 
the grinding necessity of a reluctant people." Its 
adoption was one of the occasions in which the leading 
minds of the country had a predominant influence. 

My own impression has been that the weight of 
"Washington's opinion and character, and the expecta- 
tion that he would be called upon to administer the new 
government, turned the scale. Fortunate man, not only 
in the elements of his character, but in his great oppor- 
tunities, — the war for the independence of his country 
and the establishment for it of firm and stable yet free 
government ! As Mont Blanc among the Alps lifts 
itself in simple grandeur above the surrounding sum- 
mits, so in this age of great men rises the lofty form 
and majestic presence of him who " was first in war, 
first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 

To the genius and foresight of Hamilton, when a 
young man of twenty-three years, we owe perhaps the 
first suggestion of a national government with sover- 
eign powers. The first proposition of a convention to 
revise and amend the Confederation was from the 
Legislature in ]S"ew York, in 1782, and probably at 
Hamilton's suggestion. The proposition which led 



72 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

directly the way to the conyention which framed the 
Constitution came from the Legislature of Virginia, in 
January, 1786, for a convention from the States to 
regulate commerce with foreign nations. Five of the 
States only sent delegations to it ; but these concurred 
in an earnest application to Congress to call a con- 
vention to revise, amend, and alter the Articles of 
Confederation. 

The delegates of twelve of the thirteen States met in 
May, 1787. Fortunately for the country, it was a union 
of men of capacity, experience, wisdom, probity, and 
breadth of views never surpassed in a deliberative body 
among men. They went beyond their instructions. 
Instead of simply revising or altering the Articles of 
Confederation, they reported a Constitution to be or- 
dained and established by the people of the United 
States, — a constitution which was to act, not upon 
States nor through the States upon citizens of States, 
but directly upon citizens of the United States ; with 
a broad but well defined sphere of national government, 
within that sphere supreme and clothed with adequate 
powers to construe and execute its own laws. As com- 
pared with the confederation, it was a revolution. The 
union under the Aiticles of Confederation Avas made 
perpetual, and by their terms no alteration could be 
made in any of them unless the alteration was agreed 
to by Congress and confirmed by the legislature of 
every State. It was a compromise. In the constitution 
of the senate, clothed with high legislative, executive, 



ORATION. 73 

and judicial functions, and in other important features, 
the old equality of the States was continued. 

The attachment to State institutions, the jealousy of 
central power, were the obstacles the friends of national 
government had to overcome in the convention and on 
the question of the ratification of the constitution by 
the people in the States. To these, fidelity to history com- 
pels us to add, the existence in a portion of the peoj^le 
of a spirit of hostility to law and order and any form 
of eflicient government in state or nation, which the 
confusion and disorder of the times and the imbecility 
of government had tended to create and foster. 

The new government went into operation in April, 
1789. It was when, on the 30th of April, 1789, Wash- 
ington was inaugurated as President, the United States 
really assumed " its equal station among the powers of 
the earth." 

There were defects in the Constitution ; there have 
been errors and defects in its administration : but in 
spite of these it has given to this country for eighty- 
seven years the most stable and beneficent government 
the century has known. It has settled the question 
whether free government is possible among men, and 
for the last half-century the governments of England 
and of the continent have, it may be unconsciously, 
been profiting by its example. "When other matters in 
our history vex or wound us, as they will if we feel a 
stain like a wound, we may for solace turn to the proem 
of the Declaration and the preamble of the Constitution 
10 



74 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

as the first verses of the best chapters of the past cen- 
tury's history. 

THE NEW CENTURY. 

"With what emotions, with what convictions, did we 
hail the dawning hght of the neio century ! Were the 
wings of the morning those of the angel of death or of 
life, of despair or of hope ? I answer for myself, of life 
and of hope ; nay, more, of faith and of trust. We 
have causes for anxiety and watchfulness, none for 
despair. The evils of the time are not incurable, and 
the remedies, simple and efficient, are in our hands. 

We have passed through a period of expenditures 
almost without limit, and, therefore, of infinite tempta- 
tions. "Wars, it would seem, especially civil wars, 
loosen the moral ties of society. Civil convulsions 
always bring more or less bad men to the surface, and 
some are still afloat, — men, whose patriotism not ex- 
hausted in contracts for effete muskets, spavined horses, 
and rotten ships, are ready and waiting for like service. 

We have, in the feverish, delirious haste to get rich, 
which a currency capable of indefinite expansion always 
excites, results, more direct and palpable, in unsettling 
values and the foundations of public and private faith, 
trust, and confidence. 

The evils are curable, but not by noise of words, not 
by sonorous resolutions without meaning, or only the 
meaning the very simple reader injects into their empty 
veins. 

We may put an end to corruption by leading our- 



ORATION. 75 

selves honest lives, by refusing to put any man into a 
public trust, no matter what his qualifications or past 
services, who is corrupt, or sufiers himself to walk on 
the brink, or winks at those who are wading in ; by 
using the old-fashioned old testament prescriptions for 
rulers, — " Men of truth, hating covetousness." " Thou 
shalt take no gift." " Ye shall not be afraid of the face 
of man." 

The evils of a vicious currency can be remedied only 
by return to the path of the constitution and of com- 
mercial integrity. The principles are simple and 
elementary. The " lawful money " of the United States 
is the coin of the United States, or foreign coin whose 
value has been regulated by Congress ; that is the 
constitutional doctrine. Money is a thing of intrinsic 
value, and the standard and measure of value ; that is 
the economical doctrine. A promise to pay a dollar is not 
a dollar ; that is the doctrine of morality and common 
sense. We cannot vitalize a falsehood, make the 
shadow the substance, the sign the thing signified, the 
promise to pay itself payment. Great as is the power 
of Congress, it cannot change the nature of things. 

So long as the power is left, or assumed to be left, to 
make a promise to pay payment, there will be no per- 
manent security for the stability of values, or of public 
or private faith. 

One other cure of corruption is open to us, — the 
stamping out of the doctrine that public trusts are the 
spoils of partisan victory. The higher councils may 
perhaps be changed. An administration cannot be well 



76 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

conducted with a cabinet, or other officers in confiden- 
tial relations, opposed to its policy ; but no such reason 
for change applies to ninety-nine hundredths of the 
offices, now exposed in the market as rewards for 
partisan service. 

Otherwise than in these evils I fail to see especial 
proofs of the degeneracy of the times. 

"Whether the men and women of this generation had 
fallen from the standard of their fathers and mothers, 
we had satisfactory evidence in the late war. I care 
not to dwell upon its origin or to revive its memories. 
The seceding States reaped as they had sown ; having 
sown to the wind, they reaped the whirlwind. Against 
what was to them the most beneficent of governments, 
kuown and felt only in its blessings, they waged, it 
seemed to us, causeless war, for their claim to extend 
slavery into the new States and territories never had 
solid ground of law or policy or humanity to rest upon ; 
they struck at the flag in which were enfolded our most 
precious hopes for ourselves and for mankind. They 
could not expect a great nation to be so false to duty as 
not to defend, at every cost, its integrity and life. 

But while, as matter of good sense and logic, the 
question seemed to us so plain a one ; that the Union 
meant nothing if a State might at its election withdraw 
from it ; that under the Articles of Confederation the 
Union had been made perpetual ; that the Constitution 
was adapted to form a more " perfect union " than that 
of the Confederation, more comprehensive, direct, and 
efficient in power, and not less durable in time ; that 



OEATION. 77 

there was no word in it looking to separation ; that it 
had careful provisions for its amendment, none for its 
abrogation ; capacity for expansion, none for contrac- 
tion ; a door for new States to come in, none for old or 
new to go out ; we should find that, after all, upon the 
question of legal construction, learned and philosophical 
statesmen had reached a different conclusion ; we should 
find, also, what as students of human nature we should 
be surprised not to find, that the opinions of men on 
this question had, at difierent* times and in difierent 
sections of the country, been more or less moulded, 
biased and warped by the eff'ects, or supposed efiects, 
which the policy of the central power had on the 
material interests and institutions of the States. Such 
examination, not impairing the strength of our convic- 
tions, might chasten our pride. But aside from the 
logic, men must be assumed to be honest, however mis- 
guided, who are ready to die for the faith that is in 
them. 

But not dwelling upon causes, but comparing the 
conduct of the war with that of the Kevolution, I do 
not hesitate to say that in the loyalty and devotion of 
the people to country ; in the readiness to sacrifice 
property, health, and life for her safety ; in the temper 
and spirit in which the war was carried on ; in the 
supply of resources to the army, men as well as money ; 
in the blessed ministrations of woman to the sick, 
wounded, or dying soldier ; in the courage and pluck 
evinced on both sides ; in the magnanimity and forbear- 
ance of the victors, the history of the late war shows 



78 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

no touch of degeneracy, shows, indeed, a century of 
progress. 

If its peculations and corruptions were more con- 
spicuous, it was because of the vaster amounts expended 
and the vastly greater opportunities and temptations to 
avarice and fraud. The recently published letters of 
Col. Pickering furnish additional evidence of the frauds 
and peculations in the supplies to the armies of the 
Revolution and of the neglect of the States to provide 
food and clothing for ^e soldiers, when many of the 
people, for whose liberties they were struggling, were 
living in comparative ease and luxury. The world 
moves. 

There is one criterion of which I cannot forbear to 
speak, the conduct of the soldiers of the late war upon 
the return of peace ; how quietly and contentedly they 
came back from the excitements of the battle-field and 
camp to the quiet of home life, and to all the duties of 
citizenship ; with a coat, perhaps, where one sleeve was 
useless, with a leg that had a crutch for comrade, but 
with the heart always in the right place ! 

The burdens of the war are yet with us ; the vast 
debt created, these heavy taxes consuming the very 
seed of future harvests ; the vacant seats at the fireside. 
Fifteen years, and half a generation of men, have 
passed away since the conflict of opinion ripened into 
the conflict of arms. They have been years of terrible 
anxiety and of the sickness of hope deferred ; yet if 
their record could be blotted from the book of life, if 
the grave could give up its noble dead, and all the 



OKATION. 79 

waste spots, moral and material, resume the verdure 
of the spring-time, no one of us would return to 
the state of things in 1860, with the curse of slavery 
hanging over us and the fires of discord smouldering 
beneath us. The root of alienation, bitterness, and hate 
has been wrenched out, and henceforth union and peace 
are at least possible. 

We have no right, the Koman moralist would tell us, 
and no cause, to despair of the republic. 

The elements of material prosperity are all with us ; 
this magnificent country, resonant with the murmurs of 
two oceans, with every variety of soil, climate, and 
production to satisfy the tastes or wants of man ; with 
its millions of acres of new lands beckoning for the 
plough and spade ; with its mountains of coal and iron 
and copper, and its veins of silver and gold waiting like 
Enceladus to be delivered ; its lakes, inland seas ; its 
rivers the highways of nations. We have bound its 
most distant parts together with bands of iron and 
steel ; we have answered the question of Job ; we send 
the lightnings over it "that they may go, and say 
unto us. Here we are." 

"We have all the tools of the industries and arts which 
the cunning brain of man has invented and his supple 
fingers learned to use, and abundant capital, the 
reserved fruits of labor, seeking a chance for planting 
and increase. 

The means of intellectual growth are with us. We 
have in most of the States systems of education open- 
ing to every child the paths to knowledge and to good- 



80 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

ness ; destined, we hope, to be universal. And he who 
in our day has learned to read in his mother-tongue 
may be said to have all knowledge for his empire. 

And our laws, though by no means perfect, were 
never so wise, equal, and just as now ; never so infused 
with the principles of natural justice and equity, as to- 
day. Indeed, in no department of human thought and 
activity has there been in the last century more intelli- 
gent progress than in our jurisprudence. 

Whatever may be said of creeds and formulas of 
faith, there never was so much practical Christianity as 
now ; as to wealth, so large a sense of stewardship ; as 
to labor, so high a recognition of its rights and dignity ; 
into the wounds of suffering humanity never the pour- 
ing of so much oil and wine ; never was man as man, 
or woman as woman, of such worth as to-day. 

In spite of criticism we have yet the example and 
inspiration of that life in which the human and the 
divine were blended into one. 

In spite of philosophy, God yet sits serenely on his 
throne, his watchful providence over us, his almighty 
arm beneath us and upholding us. 

For an hundred years this nation, having in trust the 
largest hopes of freedom and humanity, has endured. 
There have been whirlwind and tempest; "it has mas- 
tered them, bending only as Landor says the oak bends 
before the passing wind, to rise again in its majesty and 
in its strength." It has come out of the fiery furnace of 
civil war, its seemingly mortal plague-spot cauterized 
and burned out, leaving for us to-day a republic 



ORATION. 81 

capable of almost infinite expansion, in which central 
power may be reconciled with local independence, and 
the largest liberty with the firmest order. 

Stanch, with every sail set, her flag with no star 
erased, this goodly Ship of State floats on the bosom of 
the new century. 

In her we " have garnered up our hearts, where we 
must either live or bear no life." 

And now, God of our fathers, what wait we for but 
thy blessing ? Let thy breath fill her sails, thy presence 
be her sunshine. If darkness and the tempest come, 
give her, as of old, pilots that can weather the storm. 



PROCESSIONS. DECORATIONS 



AND 



ILLUMINATIONS. 



PROCESSIONS. 



FoK some days before the Fourth of July, signs of prepara- 
tion for the Centennial Anniversary were abundant. Bunting 
hung in festoons here and there on the fronts of Main street 
buildings, and other forms of decoration were occasionally seen. 
The dry goods dealers tempted their customers with a liberal 
display of the national colors in bunting and other fabrics, and 
there was a brisk trade in colored lanterns and other illumi- 
nating devices. Little otlier business, in fact, was done for a week 
before the day than that which, in one way or another, concerned 
the preparations for the grand display. Taste and invention 
were tasked to devise and skilful hands to execute the varied 
forms of decoration demanded for buildings and grounds and for 
the elaborate pageant of the processions. The means of making 
exultant patriotic and other noises were, of course, provided in 
abundance. 

The first stroke of midnight was the signal for a general out- 
burst of explosive patriotism, to which every sound-producing 
instrument yet devised by man contributed. This, however, was 
unorganized and desultory jubilation. At sunrise the systematic 
ringing of bells and cannon firing began. At about the same 
time, or soon after, the parade of the " Studlefunk Brigade " 
took place. This was a succession of grotesque representations, 
many of them with a satirical purpose and showing much humor 
in the design and considerable skill in execution. This beginning 
of the day's festivities brought out great numbers of the people, 
and the streets were crowded with amused and applauding 
throngs. 

The most notable event of the day after the Concert of the 
Pupils of the Public Schools, in the great tent on the Common, 



86 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



at 7.45 A. M., was the Military and Civic Procession, which took 
up its line of March through Main street to Wellington street 
and via Wellington, Chandler, Irving, Pleasant, Ashland, Elm, 
Oak, Cedar, Chestnut, Bowdoin, Harvard, Highland and Main 
streets to Mechanics Hall, and after leaving the City Government 
at the Hall, through Main and Park streets to Salem square, in 
the following order : — 

Detachment of Mounted Police, under command of Joseph M. Dyson. 
Chief Marshal, GENERAL JOSIAH PICKETT. 



Chief of Staff, Major E. T. Raymond. 



Aids, Gen. A. B. R. Sprague, 

Gen. Arthur A, Goodell, 
Surgeon J. Marcus Rice, 
Capt. T. S. Johnson, 
Capt. David M. Earle, 

Aids, Sergt. Harlan Fairbanks, 
Henry A. Mai-sh, 

Dr. F. J. McNulty, 

Stephen Salisbury, Jr. 
Henry M. Witter, 



Aids, Gen. William S. Lincoln, 
Gen. D. D. Wiley, 
Major L. G. White, 
Capt. C. S. Chapin, 
Lieut. W. B. Harding, 



Aids, Dr. Napoleon Jacques, 
R. M. Gould, 

John N. Morse, Jr. 
Albert A. Lovell. 



/ 



FIRST DIVISION. 

Worcester Brass Band, T. C. Richardson, leader, 21 pieces. 

Marshal, General Robert H. Chamberlain. 

Assistant Marshals, Colonel J. M. Drennan, Captain W. S. Lincoln, 

Lieutenant D. F. Parker. 

Worcester Light Infantry, Captain Levi Lincoln, commanding, 36 men. 

Worcester City Guards, Lieutenant E. R. Shumway, commanding, 35 men. 

City Government, Orator of the Day, and Invited Guests, in 15 carriages. 



Fifth Battery Light Artillery, Captain J. G. Rice, commanding, 8 guns, 

54 men. 



\ 



\ 



\ 



PROCESSIONS. 87 

SECOND DIVISION. 

French Band, P. H. A. Baribeault, leader, 21 pieces. 
Marshal, Major Nathan Taylor. 

Assistant Marshals, Lieutenant C. N. Hair, Dana K. Fitch, Lieutenant 

George W. Brady. 

Worcester Continentals, Colonel W. S. B. Hopkins, commanding, 83 men.* 

Johnson's Drum Corps, 13 pieces. 
Post 10, G. A. R., Commander J. B. Lamb, commanding, 86 men. 

St. Jean Baptiste Society, — President, Joseph Marchessault ; Vice-President, 

Urgele Jacques; 2d Vice-President, Louis Verner; Recording 

Secretary, A. Faucher ; Treasurer, Narcise Boulax, 

180 men. 

St. Andrew's Society.— President, William Finlay; Vice-President, James 

Little; Recording Secretary, William McKenzie; Treasurer, 

John Provan ; Marshal, George B. Grasse ; 

Standard Bearers, John Harning, 

George Weir, 75 men. 

i THIRD DIVISION. 

1 Father Mathew Temperance Band, J. B. Waters, leader, 23 pieces. 
\ Marshal, Andrew Athy, Esq. 

Assistant Marshals, John J. O'Gorman, Lieutenant James Cullen, Captain 

Geo. B. Chandley, Wm. Hickey. 

Sarsfleld Guards, Captain M. H. Murphy, commanding, 36 men. 

Father Mathew Temperance Society.— President, James H. Mellen; Vice- 
President, Patrick C. Conlin; Recording Secretary, Patrick 
O'Connor ; Treasurer, Timothy Murphy, 190 men. 

Father Mathew Temperance Cadets.— Captain, James Doyle ; Lieutenant, 

James Mahoney, 80 boys. 

Irish Catholic Benevolent Society.— President, John L. Murphy; Vice- 
President, William Kickham ; Recording Secretary, John Timon ; 
Treasurer, Jeremiah Murphy, 120 men. 

Ancient Order of Hibernians.— Division No. 1 : President, John J. O'Gorman- 

Vice-President, Stephen Haggerty ; Recording Secretary, Andrew 

O'Leary ; Treasurer, Phillip Moore, 200 men. 



*"The Worcester Continentals," an Independent military organization, made their first appear- 
ance in public on this occasion. Their uniform was in the style of that of the officers of the Conti- 
nental army in the Bevolution. 



88 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Division No. 2 : President, Andrew Athy; Vice-President, Richard Matthews; 
Recording Secretary, John Landers ; Treasurer, William 
Collins, 150 men. 

Division No. 3 : President, John Kelley ; Vice-President, Bartley Lavin ; 
Recording Secretary, Dominick Lavin; Treasurer, John Moore, 

130 men. 

FOURTH DIVISION. 

Worcester National Band, A. W. Ingraham, leader, 20 pieces. 

Marshal, Alzirus Brown, Esq. 

Assistant Marshals, S. M. Richardson, R. J. Tatman, John Lagassy. 

Worcester Fire Department. — Chief Engineer, Simon E. Combs, mounted; 

Assistant Engineers, William Brophy, John W. Loring, 

Samuel H. Day, G. N, Rawson. 

Steamer Old Governor Lincoln, i horses, 12 men, ex-members of the 
Company, under command of Phineas Guild. 

Steamer Governor Lincoln Hose Carriage, 2 horses. 

Steamer Governor Lincoln, No. 1, 4 horses, 12 men; Charles Allen, foreman. 

Hook and Ladder John W. Loring, No. 1, 4 horses, 20 men ; P. L. Church, 

foreman. 

City Hose, No. 1, 2 horses, 10 men ; Henry E. Robbins, foreman. 

Protector Hose, No. 7, 2 horses, 10 men; Samuel Barnes, foreman. 

Steamer Fire King, No. 3, 4 horses. 

Mount Vernon Hose, No. 8, 2 horses, 10 men; J. H. Townsend, foreman. 

Ocean Hose, No. 2, 2 horses, 10 men; David Boland, foreman. 

Steamer S. E. Combs, No. 2 Hose Carriage, 2 horses. 

Steamer S. E. Combs, No. 2, 4 horses, 12 men ; M. C. Viall, foreman. 

Niagara Hose, No. 4, 2 horses, 10 men ; V. A. Lonsby, foreman. 

Steamer Rapid, No 4 Hose Carriage, 2 horses. 

Steamer Rapid, No. 4, 4 horses, 12 men ; George W. Dickinson, foreman. 

Relief Hook and Ladder, No. 3, 4 horses. 

Fire Patrol, 4 horses, 8 men ; Hiram Williamson, foreman. 

Babcock Extinguisher, No. 1, 2 horses, 4 men; O. J. Buzzell, assistant 

foreman. 



PKOCESSIONS. 89 

Eagle Hose Company, No. 3, 2 horses, 10 men; E. J. Fogerty, foreman. 
Steamer A. B. Lovell Hose Carriage, 2 horses. 

Steamer A. B. Lovell, No. 3, 4 horses, 10 men; E. J. Watson, foreman. 
Yankee Hose Company, No. 5, 2 horses, 10 men; Joseph Bolio, foreman. 

Tiger Hose Company, No. 6, 1 horse, 10 men, Geo. S. Coleman, foreman. 
Hook and Ladder No. 2, 4 horses, 20 men ; Jeremiah Hennessy, foreman. 

In the Hue were over 1,000 men, and their general appearance 
was much admired. 



The next, and the most brilliant and attractive display of all, 
was the " Trades Procession," which name is not comprehensive 
enough to include all its features, though it fairly describes its 
general character. It was admirably organized, and in its details 
gave either a suggestion or an elaborate representation of nearly 
every kind of business, except those commonly called pro- 
fessional, carried on in the city. The great length of the proces- 
sion, the variety of its constituents, the display of gay colors and 
brilliant metal and the ingenious and effective designs, wrought 
out with a patience and skill seldom devoted to the elements of a 
single day's pageant, made it a series of admirable and satisfying 
spectacles. The route of this procession was from Lincoln 
square to Webster square and back again, and it was so long that 
its head had made two-thirds of the return march when the rear 
had traveled only one-third of the distance from the point of 
departure. In the line were 413 teams and nearly 800 horses. 
This procession was organized in eight divisions, each of which 
was led by an elaborately-decorated car, representing some 
nation of those from which the inhabitants of Worcester derive 
their origin. The procession moved in the following order : 

Detachment of Mounted Police. 

Chief Marshal, Gen. Josiah Pickett, and his Staflf. 

Escort : 

Battalion of Mounted Butchers, Charles Belcher, commanding. 162 men. 

12 



90 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

FIRST DIVISION. 

The First Division was composed cliieflj of representative dis- 
plays of workers in metals and machinery, General R. H. 
Chamberlain, marshal ; Col. J. M. Drennan, Capt. W. S. Lincoln, 
Capt. John G. Rice, assistant marshals. Worcester Brass Band, 
21 pieces, T. C. Richardson, leader. 

EMBLEM, — AMERICA. 

The car was in the form of a chariot, which was twenty feet 
long, twelve feet wide and seventeen feet high. The sides, the 
tops of which were seven feet from the gronnd, were heavily 
festooned with red, white and blue, with white and maroon for 
a background. A canopy of red, white and blue and national 
flags covered the car, being semi-circidar in form at the rear. 
On the sides, hung at the gatherings of the festoons, were six 
large shields bearinsf the coat of arms of the United States. 
Under the semi-circular section of the canopy, seated on a 
raised platform, ten feet from the ground, was a young lady, 
Miss Kinney, representing the United States. She wore a 
Roman toga, ornamented with stars of gold, and upon her head 
was a helmet of white silk velvet of unique design, ornamented 
with golden stars. The national colors enveloped her dress 
below the toga, and fell in graceful folds upon the platform 
on which she was seated. Below, overlooked by the central 
figure, were seated thirteen young ladies dressed in white and 
wearing wreaths of laurel, representing the thirteen original 
Colonies. The representatives of the Colonies were Misses Mary 
P. Matoon, Minnie W. Tarbell, Isabel J. Gibbs, Ella L. Taft, 
Mary E. Drennan, Mary G. Messenger, Emma L. Sutton, Stella 
G. Alton, Anna M. Rice, Mary E. Sherman, Lizzie F. Daniels, 
Louisa M. Gunderson, Julia R. Walker. 

Each of these young ladies supported a shield upon which the 
name of the Colony she represented was painted in ornamental 
letters. On one side of the central figure was a large shield of 
the United States, and on the other was a sword and American 
eagle. The whole was drawn by six handsome gray horses. Six 
Continentals, mounted, acted as escort to the car. 



PROCESSIONS. 91 

SECOND DIVISION. 

The Second Division comprised chiefly representatives of the 
furniture, book, harness, trunk and musical instrument trades 
and hatters. Major Nathan Taylor, marshal; Lieut. Chas. N". 
Hair, Lieut. G-eorge W. Brady, Dana K. Fitch, assistant marshals. 
French Band, 24 pieces, in a carriage. 

EMBLEM, — FRANCE. 

The car, twenty-two feet long and ten wide, was drawn by six 
horses, ridden by knights in glittering mail. In the centre was 
a large canopy, trimmed with evergreen and gold fringe. At 
the front was a pictorial design of the Bell of Liberty, flanked 
on either side ])y a French Zouave and an American soldier. 
Perched on the top of the bell were the w^hite monarchical flag 
of France in 17T6, and the American flag with thirteen stars. 
Between the flags was a shield, with the inscription, " Les sons de 
la cloche de la Liberty ont ete entendus par la France," — the peals 
of the liberty bell have been heard by France. The design at the 
end of the car was a trophy of flags, with shields, inscribed, 
" The friendship of France and America has been continuous for 
a century. May it last forever." On the top of the canopy 
columns were the French tricolor and American flags, with 
shields bearing the names of McMahon and Grant. Around the 
bottom of the platform was a rich tricolor drapery, covered with 
shields, on which were inscribed Marion, De Grasse, Kocham- 
beau, D'Estaing, Brandywine, Yorktown ; Longfellow and 
Victor Hugo, poets ; Powers and Bartholdi, arts ; De Tocque- 
ville and Claudio Jamet, historians. In the canopy facing to the 
front was a goddess (Miss 0. Lacroix), dressed in white satin, 
holding a white flag — le drapeau fleurdelis6 — in one hand ; and 
in the other, resting on the cushion, was a diadem. In front, to 
the right, stood Lafayette (Henry Escousse), dressed in a conti- 
nental suit of blue satin. On the left stood Washington (Cyrille 
Paquette), dressed in a black velvet suit, richly ornamented with 
beads, a fac-simile of the suit worn at Lady Washington's 
receptions. Over their heads was a shield, inscribed '' Washing- 
ton, Lafayette," and the flags of monarchical France and of 
America. Over all of this representation of the revolutionary 



92 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

period, showing the friendship of the two countries, waved the 
French white and American flags, while the date, 1776, indicated 
the date of the event. The rear half of the car was devoted to 
a representation of 1876. 

In the canopy facing the end of the wagon was a French 
Goddess of Liberty (Miss A. Lacoste), dressed in blue satin, and 
holding the French tricolor. Facino; her on one side was a 
French Zouave, and on the other an American infantry-man, 
represented respectively by L6on Robert and John B. Lepire, 
each bearing the flag of his country. Two soldiers, one of each 
nation, were also represented by MM. E. Fleau and H. St. 
George. The guard of honor consisted of six mounted pages, 
dressed in a brilliant costume of the sixteenth century, with 
feathered caps and capes of maroon velvet, with white satin 
puflfs. They each carried a small banner of red, white and blue, 
with gold fringe. In the corners were 1776 and 1876, while 
suitable mottoes were inscribed in the centre. The pages were 
Dr. Louis Verner, L. A. Letourneau, Frank A. Payan, II. M. 
Couture, ]Sr. P. Huot and A. Charbonneau. 

The drapery and general decoration of the car were tasteful 
and elaborate, and reflected much credit upon the following 
committee, named at a meeting of the French residents of this 
city, to whom had been offered the honor of representing France, 
their mother country : Ferd. Gagnon, president ; Leon Robert, 
John J. B. PrimeaUj Dr. N. Jacques, Dr. L. Yerner, A. G. 
Lalime, Wm. Arrouquier, A. Charbonneau, P. Langlois, Henry 
Escousse, A. Belisle and L. A. Letourneau. The committee 
followed the car in two carriages. 

THIRD DIVISION. 

The Third Division contained the display of the makers of 
farming tools and machinery, milkmen, florists and farmers. 
Charles B. Pratt, marshal ; Waldo E. Sessons, John S. Brigham, 
George A. Barnard, assistant marshals. 

EMBLEM, — FLORA. 

The goddess and her two attendant priestesses, were repre- 
sented in a Roman triumphal car, with Roman costumes and 



PROCESSIONS. 93 

decorations. They were surrounded by the four seasons, each 
with two attendants, forming a group of twelve, appropriate to 
the months of the year. The palms and other tropical plants 
which were used in adorning the car were beautiful, one 
gorgeous palm, which crowned the whole, being nine feet high, 
and the leaves a yard across. The shape of the car was oval, 
with pedestal in the centre, and the gilding and painting was very 
rich and elaborate. It was decorated with several Latin mottoes, 
following a common Italian custom. The work of arranging 
this emblem devolved on Mr. John G. Hey wood and S. Salis- 
bury, Jr., who were assisted by Messrs. Thomas O. Alexander 
and Eugene Hilton, who did the painting and gilding ; and by 
Messrs. John Coulson and Thomas Murphy, gardeners for 
Messrs. Salisbury and Hey wood, who assisted in the floral work, 
the plants being furnished from the greenhouses of Mr. Salis- 
bury. The parts were taken by fifteen young ladies of the High 
School. Miss Jennie B. Willard was Flora, and her companions 
were Misses Abbie F. Wood, Hattie G. Gates, F. Josie Kinsley, 
Emma F. Dearborn, Emma Goddard, Effie M. Riley, Ginevra J. 
Lawler, Mary J. Walker, Mary L. Fifield, Minnie Rawson, 
Carrie E. Griggs, M. Gertrude Griggs, Abbie L. Stearns, and 
Florence A. Gates. 

FOURTH DIVISION. 

The Fourth Division contained representatives of the grocers 
and provision dealers, bakers, confectioners and liquor dealers. 
Colonel J. A. Titus, marshal; Capt. George M. Woodward, Lieut. 
E. W. Wellington, Capt. William McCready, assistant marshals. 

EMBLEM, — SCOTLAND. 

The car representing Scotland was 18 feet long and 8 feet 
wide, and was drawn by four black horses, ridden by two post- 
illions in Highland costume. The frame- work consisted of four 
columns, one at each corner of the platform. Springing from 
the tops of the columns were four graceful ogee braces, 
reaching to the top of an elevated central column, on which 
was a platform three feet in diameter, where stood a blooming 
Scotch thistle, five feet high. Springing from this platform were 
arches, over-topping the thistle, with the old defiant motto, 



94 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

" Wemo me impune lacessit^'' translated on the opposite side as 
" Touch me not with impunity." The ends were finished with 
half-circle arches, St. Andrew's Cross filling the space from the 
bottom edge of the front arch to a brace across the top of the 
corner columns. The cross was handsomely decorated with 
spines of the thistle in full bloom. On the top of the front arch, 
over the cross, was a large bunch of blooming heather, imported 
from Scotland. On the rear arch, the space was filled by an oval 
frame, containing a suspended floral crown. 

The front arch bore the inscription, " From the heath-covered 
mountains of Scotland we come." On the rear arch, " Here's a 
health, bonnie Scotland, to thee." The side rails, from front to 
rear columns, were decorated with a box plaiting of royal Stuart 
plaid ribbon, nine inches wide, over which was festooned a heavy 
gold bullion fringe, four inches wide. The bottoms of the front 
and rear arches were trimmed similarly. A deck, the whole 
length on each side of the car, was suspended four feet below 
the platform, on which rode the guard of honor. The back- 
ground of the lower decorations was of red and blue ; over this, 
and entwined at every point possible, the trimmings were of 
Scotch plaids of the clans Gordon, Argyle, McGregor, Forbes 
and royal Stuart. Shields, flags and flowers put on the finishing 
touches to the decorations. 

Nine characters were presented : Sir William Wallace by J. 
McGregor Smith, and Robert Bruce by J. L. Scott, representing 
national independence, were clad in armor, Wallace bearing a 
claymore, and Bruce a battle axe. The shield of the former was 
inscribed, " Scots, wlia hae wi' Wallace bled," and of the latter, 
" Scots, wham Bruce hath aften led." Poetry was represented 
by Robert Burns (Alexander Thomson), and Sir Walter Scott 
(William Finlay). Burns was standing at the plough, dressed in 
the antique ploughman's suit of his day, and over him stood 
" Colia " (Miss Jennie B. Weir), dressed in white, with a royal 
Stuart tartan sash across her shoulder, and on her head a wreath 
of holly, placing a mantle of Gordon tartan on his shoulders. 
The idea presented was taken from the poet's own words, " The 
Poetic Genius of my country found me as the prophet bard Elijah 
did Elisha at the plough, and threw her inspiring mantle over 



PROCESSIONS. 95 

me." On the plough was the motto, " A man's a man for a' 
that." Sir Walter Scott was dressed in a gray tweed suit, with 
a shepherd's plaid thrown over his shoulders and a Kilmarnock 
bonnet on his head. A handsome pointer dog lay at his side. 
On his shield was the inscription, "This is my own, my native 
land." Mechanical industry was represented in James Watt, by 
John Speirs. He was dressed as a mechanic, with paper cap. 
At his side stood a painting representing a fire-place with a 
boiling tea-kettle, steam rushing from its spout ; also a small 
steam engine. His shield was inscribed, " The first conception 
of steam power. James Watt, 1760." 

The next character was John Knox, the Presbyterian minister, 
the founder of parochial schools and religious emancipation. He 
was represented by Hugh Brown, who was dressed in a clergy- 
man's garb of 1560, standing at a desk. The inscription on 
his shield was, " John Knox, 1560. I stipulate that the People 
be Educated." At the front of the car stood Alex. Buchanan, 
piper of the Boston Caledonian Club, in full costume, entertain- 
ing all hearts with Scotch airs. At the rear of the car stood ex- 
Chief Wm. Grant, of the Boston club, in an elegant Highland 
costume, representing a modern Highlander. Master James W. 
Thomson acted as page, dressed in full Highland costume. 

The guard of honor to the car was a delegation of chieftains and 
clansmen from the Boston Caledonian Club, dressed in full High- 
land costume, viz : Munroe Ross and Robert Barnes, with battle- 
axes ; Hugh Sinclair and John Adam, standard bearers ; James B. 
Hill and James Johnstone, with claymores. The committee, 
accompanied by Chief J. G. McCormick, of Boston, and G. B. 
Grassie, of Bolton, the two latter dressed in magnificent High- 
land costumes, followed the car in open barouches. The car was 
constructed and decorated by a committee appointed by the 
Worcester St. Andrew's Benefit Society, consisting of the 
following gentlemen: Wm. McKenzie, chairman; Thomas 
Provan, George Weir, James Speirs, John Haining, Hugh 
Brown, treasurer ; and John W. Dobbie, secretary. 



96 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. . 

FIFTH DIVISION. 

The Fifth Division comprised representatives of the business 
in coal, stone and ice. Andrew Athj, marshal ; J. J. O'Gorman, 
Capt. George B. Chandley, Lieut. James CuUen, William Hickey, 
assistant marshals. Father Mathew Temperance Band, in a 
carriage. 

EMBLEM, — IRELAND. 

The car representing Ireland was preceded by a procession of 
ancient Irish kings, chieftains and warriors, in the following 
order : Gallowglass chieftain, in green and gold tunic, saffron 
trunks and hose, carrying an ancient battle-axe (Timothy Cronin) ; 
three trumpeters, in costumes of the regiment of Lord Clare, of 
the Irish brigade which took part in the Battle of Fontenoy, 
May 11, 1745 — Daniel Savage, John Kiorden, John P. O'Con- 
nell ; King Brian Boru, as he appeared when leading the Irish army 
to battle against the Danes, at Clontarf, near Dublin, on Good 
Friday, 1014. He wore a crown studded with precious stones, 
saffron-trimmed tunic, embroidered with gold, saffron trunks and 
hose, red sandals, a long, flowing mantle of green velvet, lined 
with scarlet satin, trimmed elaborately with bullion and adorned 
with precious stones, holding in his hand the royal sceptre 
(Maurice O'Flynn). King's pages : Four pages, in green and 
gold — two on each side — one holding the horse's bridle and the 
other the King's mantle (John P. O'Leary, Bernard O'Rourke, 
Patrick McDermott, J. J. Lynch) ; four Gallowglasses, in flowing 
cloaks of saffron and gold, brass helmets, each armed with a 
battle-axe (James Kelly, Thomas Finneran, Patrick Morrissy, 
Michael Brown) ; Standard Bearer, in Gallowglass costume, 
carrying an Irish flag (Eneas Lombard) ; Roderick O'Connor, 
last king of Ireland. He wore a crown of gold, adorned with a 
plume of emerald green, a richly-embroidered tunic of green and 
gold, white satin-spangled tights, an embroidered golden harp on 
his breast and a flowing robe of white satin (Jeremiah F. 
Healey) ; Guard to King — two ancient Fenians, in armor, each 
carrying pike and skein (James McGrath, Patrick Hackett). 

The car was drawn by six horses, each horse accompanied by 
two ancient Irish soldiers, in Gallowglass costumes, carrying 



PROCESSIONS. 97 

battle-axes, represented by John Delany, Thomas Leahy, M. 
Cronin, John O, Toner, John Walsh, Mark Duggan, Patrick 
O'Hara, Patrick Casey, Dennis Hines. The car was twenty-two 
feet in length, twelve feet in width and fifteen feet high. Hiber- 
nia was seated on a raised platform in the centre of the car, be- 
neath a canopy, surmounted by an Irish flag ; from the top of the 
canopy a streamer extended to each of the four corner posts of the 
car, each post being surmounted by an Irish flag. Miss Annie 
Condon, representing Hibernia, was splendidly dressed in green, 
saffron and gold, with a crown of gold set with emeralds. She 
was attended by four young ladies, dressed in white, with green 
Bashes and wreaths upon their heads. They were seated on a 
lower platform, on each side of Hibernia. The young ladies' 
names were Miss Julia Mahoney, Miss Eliza Fitzgerald, Miss 
Maggie E. Kenney, Miss Mary E. Melavin. At the feet of 
Hibernia was seated an ancient Irish harper, with harp in 
hand, with long, flowing white hair and beard, wine-colored tunic, 
6aff"ron hose and red sandals ; represented by Michael Murtagh. 

On each corner of the car stood four Irish Chieftains, clad in 
glittering armor, with helmets, visors and drawn swords, each 
supporting a shield, on which was inscribed the name of one of 
the four provinces of Ireland, as follows : Ulster, Michael Ford ; 
Leinster, Thomas Sweeney ; Munster, Maurice Cronin ; Con- 
naught, Kiernan Murray. In the centre of the rear of the car 
stood an ancient Fenian Chief, in charge of a magnificent Irish 
flag (John A. Kelly). 

The car was handsomely decorated with the national colors of 
the United States and of L-eland, intermingled with streamers of 
green, white and gold, profusely trimmed with evergreen wreaths 
and flowers. From the platform of the car to the ground, on 
red drapery, which entirely concealed the wheels of the car, 
were arranged shields, thirty-two in number, designating the 
thirty-two counties of Ireland; around each were festoons of ever- 
green, and between these were festoons of red, white and gold. 

Following the Emblem Car, was an Irish Jaunting Car, on 

which were seated four venerable Irish gentlemen : William 

Fitzgerald, Henry G. Roche, Michael O'Hagan and James Mc- 

Glinchy ; driven by Michael Early. 
13 



98 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The committee who designed and had charge of the repre- 
sentation followed in a carriage : Frank M. Drennan, John L. 
Murphy, John Keney and Matthew O'Meara. 

The general management of the representation was assumed 
by delegates from the Irish societies of the city, of which 
Patrick C. Conlin was chairman, and Richard O'Flynn secretary 
and treasurer ; valuable assistance being rendered by the citizens 
at large. 

SIXTH DIVISION. 

The Sixth Division included the express companies, stables, 
city teams, water carts, &c. Alzirus Brown, marshal ; Capt. E. 
A. Wood, S. M. Richardson, R. J. Tatman,'assistant marshals. 

EMBLEM, — ENGLAND . 

The Car of England in the procession was twenty feet in 
length and ten feet in width, the general design being in the 
shape of a ship, to represent that country's vast merchant navy 
and commerce. In the centre, seated on a large, solitary rock, 
with the lion crouched at her feet, was Britannia (Mrs. James 
Pursey), dressed as usually represented in the arts, with scale- 
armor bust, helmet, &c., holding in her right hand the trident, 
her left resting on the shield. On either side of this central 
figure stood a British soldier (Mr. Freeman), and sailor (Mr. C. 
W. Walls), on projections of the platform of tlie car; and 
between them and the rock were placed trophies suitable to 
each — that behind the sailor being a full-rigged ship with all 
sails set, and behind the soldier a cannon, pile of shot, &c. 
At the four corners of the car were placed the principal colonies 
of England, viz : Austraha (Mr. Richard Holt), India (Mr. John 
Wood), Canada (Mr. Henry Cole), West Indies (Mr. Charles 
Nuttal) ; beneath each of which was a shield, inscribed with the 
coat of arms of the colony, the costumes of the figures being those 
worn in each country. Life-size busts of Milton, Byron, Shakes- 
peare, and Newton, represented literature and science, — these 
being also placed at the corners of the car, and facing diagonally 
outwards. On the projections from the car, by the side of each 
of the six figures, was a stafi" eight feet high, surmounted by a 



PROCESSIONS. 99 

gold spear-head, supporting a banner of white and gold, bearing 
the name of the colony or profession in scarlet. In the rear end 
of the car was a blacksmith (Mr. R, Hoyle), with anvil, hammer, 
&c:, representing the mechanical arts. 

The decorations and trimmings were mainly scarlet — the Eng- 
lish color. The body of the car was box-plaited to within six 
inches of the ground, with scarlet, having a fringe, a foot in 
depth, of deep blue, edged with gold and studded with gold 
lions. Around the edge of the platform ran a line of evergreens, 
festoons of tiie same hanging beneath it. Over the stern of the 
ship hung the " English ensign " and the " stars and stripes," 
looped up together, and falling in graceful folds almost to the 
ground. A canopy, surmounted by a Tudor crown, from 
which sprung a small pennon, shaded the central figure of 
Britannia, the supports of the canopy covered with evergreens, 
forming arches which sprung from the base of the rock. This 
canopy was white, with a fringe of scarlet edged with gold and 
gold lions on the ground of it. Four scarlet and gold pennons, 
attached to staffs with gold spear-heads, rose from the spring of 
the arches, and from the bow of the ship was suspended an 
anchor. 

Mr. W. H. Johnson, dressed as ISTeptune, drove the car, which 
was drawn by four horses, whose harness was trimmed with red, 
white and blue. Following the car were the committee of 
arrangements, in carriages : Mr. S. P. Triscott, chairman ; Mr. 
George Cleveland, Mr. John Dawson, Mr. W. T. Back, Mr. I 
Davis, Mr. C. F. Lawrence, Mr. James Broadbent. 

SEVENTH DIVISION. 

The Seventh Division represented the lumber dealers, black- 
smiths, slaters, potters, drain pipe makers &c. A. B, Lovell, 
marshal; J- ^^- Jordan, L. C. Kenney, Hermann A. Lange, 
assistant marshals. Worcester National Band, in a carriage. 

EMBLEM, — GERMANY. 

The German Car was twenty -three feet long, eight feet wide and 
fifteen feet high, built to represent the old castle Kyffhauser, 
a ruin in Thuringia, of which a legend tells us of Frederick 



100 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, 

I. the German Roman emperor, resting under its walls, and 
awakening every one hundred years, when he details his 
attendants to ascertain if Germany is prepared to be united, 
and if not he returns to the vaults for another hun- 
dred years' sleep. The work on this tower was admirably 
done, the ruin being well represented. Ivies and mosses 
were clinging to the sides, and a terrace formed the base, 
with green grass and small oak trees growing thereon. Seated 
on a throne at the base of the tower, and resting partially 
against it, was Germania, a beautiful figure, dressed throughout 
in rich black velvet. Embroidered on the breast was a hand- 
some golden eagle, and about her waist an elegant sword belt. 
In her left hand she supported an elegant flag of Germany 
moving above the tower, while her right hand rested on the 
hilt of a drawn sword. On her head she wore a beautiful 
coronet, with two miniature castles worked in the front. Below 
Germania was a group of three of the Muses, representing 
music, art and history. The corners of the car were guarded by 
Halberdiers, who appeared able to repress all attempts at inva- 
sion. Turners and students, in their respective uniforms, 
occupied positions at the sides. The wagon was also heavily 
draped with German colors, showing in each festoon a different 
color of the principal German States. The driver of the six 
horses drawing the chariot was clad in the costume of Arminius, 
the Prince of the Cheruscan tribe. Two Uhlans, two hussars, 
a cuirassier and artillerist, representing the four mounted corps 
of the German army, formed an escort to the car. The horses 
were also handsomely decorated with the German colors. Com- 
mittee of arrangements: R, Yolkmar, Pres., Ch. Schlenker, Sec, 
Benj. Zaeder, Rud. Hacker, Leop. Strauss, Ph. Dutten, Jul. 
Gunther, Aug. Biihler, Herm. Lang, Geo. Trott, Fried. Geyer, 
Dan. Hentz, Com. Finames, Leop. Strauss, Geo. Krumsick, H. 
Eisentrant, P. Bauer, F. Blasy. Germania, Mrs. Jacob Henrich ; 
Muses, Misses Eidt, A. Zaeder and L. Kochler. 

EIGHTH DIVISION. 

The Eighth Division comprised gentlemen's driving teams ; 
Lieut. David F. Parker, marshal; Capt. M. V. B. Richardson, 



PROCESSIONS. 101 

Charles W. Moody, Gen. Percy Daniels, assistant marshals. 
Swedish Brass Band, in a carriage, 15 pieces, C. Ekbled, leader. 

EMBLEM,— SCANDINAVIA. 

The Scandinavian Car represented Norway, Sweden and 
Denmark. The platform — fourteen feet long by eight feet wide, 
and five and a half feet from the ground — was covered with the 
Scandinavian colors and trimmed with evergreens. Upon a seat, 
in the centre, was enthroned the Goddess of Liberty (Miss Selma 
P. Aalstrom), dressed in pure white, with trimmings of the 
national colors, a helmet adorning her head, and hblding in her 
hand a banner, ten feet by eight, having on one side the 
Scandinavian coat of arms, and on the other a Northman's ship 
of the tenth century, sailing for our shores, with the words, 
" America discovered A. D., 1000." In front of the goddess 
were representatives of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, in their 
respective costumes of one hundred years ago, each holding in his 
hand the flag of that date ; Norway being represented by Olaus 
Hanson, a Norwegian ; Sweden by Swen Hammer, a Swede ; 
and Denmark by C. G. Blomstrom, a Dane. 

Behind the goddess, were three distinguished representatives 
of the present age : John Ericsson, the inventor of the caloric 
engine and the world-renowned " Monitor," personated by 
Alfred Johnson ; Albert Thorwaldsen, the noted sculptor, repre- 
sented at work on an outline model just moulded by him, 
personated by Edward Hammerstrom ; and Ole Bull, the cele- 
brated musician, personated by Nils Peterson. 

In the rear of the platform was a Union soldier of Norway 
and Sweden, represented by Edward Ericson, dressed in the 
national uniform, and on each side of him a union flag of the 
two countries. Over all was a rich canopy, fourteen feet from 
the ground, covered with the Scandinavian colors ; and six feet 
above this was an American flag, six feet by eight. 

On each side of the car, printed in large letters, was the word 
" Scandinavia." The car was drawn by four horses, led by M. 
Hanson, C. Sandbo, O. Olson and A. Hanson, dressed in the 
costumes of Norway and Sweden. 



DECOEATIONS AND ILLUMINATIONS. 



The decorations of buildings and grounds throughout the city 
were of a most elaborate nature, far exceeding anything of the 
kind ever before attempted here. 

The work of decorating the Common and the buildings and 
monuments thereon was done by the city, and the work was 
much admired. At the west gable-end of City Hall was a 
shield, resting upon a glory of national flags. Suspended from 
this were streamers running to the sides' of the building below, 
finishing with the coat of arms of Massachusetts on one side, 
and the seal of the United States on the other. Covering the 
middle window in the second story of the west end was an 
admirable life-size painting of Washington, with a glory of 
American flags as a background. The main entrance below was 
draped with national flags. On the northerly and southerly sides 
of the building were heavy festoons of red, white and blue, a 
shield, bearing the name of one of the States, being suspended 
at the gatherings of the festoons. On the easterly end of the 
building streamers and national flags were hung in profusion. 

On the westerly side of the Old South Church was an arch, 
standing where the old porch through which the church was 
entered, was located. This was twenty-one feet high, ten feet 
deep and fourteen feet wide, and the frame-work was entirely 
covered with red, white and blue. In the centre of the arch was 
a handsome shield of the United States, with a glory of national 
flags as a background, while on the sides of the arch were thir- 
teen shields representing the thirteen original colonies. • Below 
the national shield, on a background of white, in varied colored 
letters, the public were informed that " Here stood the porch 
where the Declaration of Independence was first read in Massa- 
chusetts." South of this porch was a painting, ten feet long 



DECOKATIONS AND ILLUMINATIONS. 103 

and seven feet wide, representing Columbia. This painting was 
surrounded by national flags, hung in graceful festoons. In the 
space between the porch and the painting of Columbia was a 
handsome flag of France, draped with pennants of red, white 
and blue. At the north end of the church, covering the cir- 
cular window in the gable, the English and American flags were 
draped together, from which streamers were suspended. Two 
lines of streamers of signals and pennants were suspended 
between the belfry and the City Hall, one running to the west- 
erly end, and terminating with the flag of Tuscany, and the other 
to the easterly end, and terminating with a Brazilian flag. At 
the south end, in the centre, was a large pennant of red, white 
and blue, from which streamers of flags ran to either side of the 
building. 

The base of the Soldiers' Monument was wound with festoons 
of red, white and blue, and the disc was covered with streamers 
intertwined with festoons of evergreen running through wreaths 
of the same material. Double festoons of evergreen were also 
intertwined with the red, white and blue at the base. 

On the top of the Bigelow Monument was an evergreen 
wreath, from which streamers ran to either corner of the base, 
and back through the wreath at the top. Each of the four 
recesses was covered with American flags, handsomely draped 
with wreaths of evergreen hung at intervals. The base was also 
handsomely covered with heavy festoons of red, white and blue, 
upon which rested festoons of evergreen. 

At Lincoln Square, the grand decoration consisted of a triple 
arch 126 feet long and 52 feet high in the centre, extending 
from the corner of Salisbury's block at the junction of the new 
lines of Union street to a large elm tree in front of the Salisbury 
mansion. Four wooden columns supported the decorating 
material, which consisted mainly of tricolored bunting. At the 
top of the columns floated American flags. In the centre was 
hung a semi-circle, bearing on the west side the inscription, 
" North Square, — ancient centre of Revolutionary spirit." On 
the east side the inscription was, " Our country — all of it." The 
top of the circles was surmounted with a spread eagle, a silver 
star, and cluster of small flags, while underneath were large 



104 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

American shields. In the centre of the north arch was a large 
American shield, with " 1776 " on the face and " 1876 " on the 
rear. Over this was a silver star. The south arch was similarly 
arranged, with the dates on the shields reversed. The columns 
were covered with bunting, and on the west face of the two 
centre ones were medallions of Washington and Lincoln. The 
effect of the display was very fine, and attracted general 
admiration. 

The American Antiquarian Society building was tastefully 
decorated with national colors. Over the entrance was placed 
a spread eagle, perched on a globe. Streamers ran from the 
roof to the centre and lower story. On either side of the upper 
story windows were large American shields. On the top of 
the building floated a regulation American flag, inscribed, " The 
past at least is secure — tlie future is full of promise." Small 
flags of other nationalities floated from the roof, and a mammoth 
flag was hung across the head of Salisbury street. 

The Exchange Hotel, corner of Market street, where General 
"Washington took breakfast when he passed through the town on 
his way to take command of the army, was decorated with bunt- 
ing and flags. A placard over the room north of the ofiice 
announced that the room was once occupied by the " Father of 
his country." 

On the ancient house known as the " Dix House" on Main 
Street at the foot of " Court House Hill," now occupied by 
Samuel Davis, Esq., was this inscription: "This was the residence 
of General "Warren's family dnring the siege of Boston." A 
house on the west side of Lincoln Street, a few rods north of 
Lincoln Square, bore the inscription : " Near this spot once stood 
the Hancock Arms Tavern." 

The Lincoln House block was conspicuously adorned with 
colored fabrics, gracefully arranged, and bore two placards : One 
reading, " This spot marks the location of the King's Arras 
Tavern. The towns-people compelled the keeper to take down 
the sign, when it was burned in the street;" and the other, 
" Lafayette was the guest of General Lincoln at a house which 
formerly stood on this spot, Sept. 22d, 1824," 

As the dusk of evening approached, lanterns and colored fires 



DECORATIONS AND ILLUMINATIONS. 105 

made the night more brilliant and splendid than the day had 
been, and the throng in the streets was scarcely less. 

The centre of attraction was the Common, where the illumina- 
tion was done under the direction of the city. In the City Hall, 
behind each square of glass, a French lantern was hung, and the 
effect was such that the old building was really something of 
which the citizens might well be proud. In the belfry of the 
Old South Church were a number of red lanterns, a simple yet 
pleasing display. Lines of lanterns, of the bucket and globe 
patterns, were hung in festoons between the trees on the Front, 
Main, Park and Salem street sides, and in nearly all the trees 
lanterns were hung in profusion. Near the main path was a 
handsome chandelier of lanterns, and lines of the same were 
stretched from the top of the flagstaff to the four corners. A 
Magnesium light illuminated the Soldiers' Monument, and the 
effect throughout was very fine- 
Throughout the city, almost every dwelling, shop and office 
was illuminated more or less profusely. Many of the devices 
were very ingenious and tasteful, and the number of paper 
lanterns was astonishingly great. Altogether, nothing of the 
kind could well be more satisfactory than this celebration of 
the Centennial Fourth. The enthusiasm of the people was 
genuine and hearty, and the celebration was notable for the 
excellent management of the public authorities, the general 
co-operation of all classes of citizens, and the total absence of 
any serious accident or failure. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 



Tt has been deemed appropriate to give a few facts wbich 
indicate, in some degree, the condition of affairs in the town of 
Worcester a century ago, especially as to the stand taken upon 
the important political questions then agitating the country. 
This now prosperous city, with its fifty thousand inhabitants, 
was then a village, with less than two thousand, and probably had 
not over two hundred and fifty voters, yet it was prominent 
and active in political affairs. 

Although many of the most respected citizens, and most of the 
officials, were loyal to the British government, the majority were 
strongly opposed to the arbitrary measures of parliament, which 
were likely to affect, as they believed, the independence and 
well being of the people. 

As early as December, 1773, the leading whigs of "Worcester 
had formed a society for discussion and consultation upon civil 
and religious afiairs, called the "American Political Society," 
which was an exponent of the political rights of the people. It 
also took an active part in town afiairs, and often discussed 
questions tliat were afterwards acted upon in town meeting, on 
whose deliberations and doings it had a marked infiuence. The 
real purpose of the Society was undoubtedly to control the 
actions of the royalist party, then consisting of the wealthy and 
influential men of the town. * 

Early in 1774 the Society took strong ground against the 
action of the home government in placing a duty on tea and other 
goods imported from Great Britain to the Colonies. A vote or 

* This Society was probably to a certain extent a secret one, for it Is stated tbat in the only 
Instance on record of a member being dismissed, he was requested to sign a solemn compact or 
declaration, that he would " faithfully and inyiolably keep all the articles of the Society secret as 
truly as if he still belonged." Owing to internal troubles and disagreements, the society waa 
dissolved in June, 1776. 



110 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

resolution was passed in which the members agreed not to buj 
any Engb'sh goods, and especially not to buy or use any tea, 
imported from England or elsewhere, until the act imposing a 
duty thereon was repealed. Other resolutions of a similar nature 
were adopted from time to time, which gave great offence to 
the loyalists, of whom there were a considerable number, and 
also encouraged the whigs to greater zeal in their resistance to 
the aggressions of the crown. 

In May, 1744, resolutions were adopted by the town, in the 
form of instructions to Joshua Bigclow, the newly-elected repre- 
sentative to the General Court. He was instructed to be decided 
in opposition to the objectionable acts of Parliament, and to 
oppose the approval of all claims for indemnity for the tea 
thrown overboard in the harbor of Boston. He was especially 
urged to make it one of his first objects to work for and require 
a strict union of the Colonies, and to pursue every legal measure 
that might tend thereto, viz : — 

"That committees of correspondence be kept up between the several 
houses of assembly through the colonies ; and that you by no means fail to 
use your utmost endeavors, that there be a general Congress formed of 
deputies from the same ; that so we may unite in some safe and sure plan, 
to secure and defend the American liberties, at this important ci'isis of 
affairs."* 

Other equally decided instructions had before been adopted by 
the town, which the loyalists strongly opposed ; but not succeed- 
ing in their opposition, they petitioned for a special meeting, in 
the hope that they might be able to secure a reconsideration of 
the resolutions. After a long and excited discussion upon the 
question, they were defeated in their efforts. Thej' then resorted 
to what seemed the only course left, and presented a protest 
against the resolutions, wliich was most loyal in its tone, and 
was signed by fifty-two inhabitants. 

The acceptance of the protest was refused by the town, but 
Clark Chandler, the town clerk, himself among the signers of the 
protest, as were several of his relatives and friends, copied the 
protest on the records, and also sent a copy to Boston for 
publication. 

History of Worcester.— By William Liucoln, p. 79. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. Ill 

The protest, prefaced with a note to the printer, was published 
in the " Massachusetts Gazette and the Boston Weeklv News- 

ft/ 

Letter," of June 30th, 1774, as follows :— * 

*' Messrs. Printers, 

If you please you may give the following Protestation «S;c of us 
few friends of truth, peace and order, a place in your paper : For it is 
believed that we and many others thro' the Province have too long already 
held our peace. 

" At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Worcester held there on 
the 20Lh day of June, A. D. 1774, pursuant to an application made to the 
selectmen by 43 voters and freeholders of the same town, dated the 20th day 
of May last, therein, among other things, declaring their just apprehensions 
of the fatal consequences that may follow the many riotous and seditious 
actions that have of late times been done and perpeti*ated in divers places 
within this province ; the votes and proceedings of which meeting are by us 
deemed irregular and arbitrary : 

Wherefore, we, some of us who were petitioners for the said meeting, 
and others, inhabitants of the town, hereunto subscribing, thinking it our 
indispensable duty, in these times of discord and confusion in too many of the 
towns within this province, to bear testimony in the most open and unreserved 
manner against all riotous, disorderly and seditious practices, must therefore 
now declare, that it is with the deepest concern for public peace and order 
that we behold so many, whom we used to esteem sober, peaceable men, so 
far deceived, deluded and led astray by the artful, crafty and insidious prac- 
tices of some evil-minded and ill-disposed persons, who, under the disguise 
of patriotism, and falsely styling themselves the friends of liberty, some of 
them neglecting their own proper business and occupation, in which they 
ought to be employed for the support of their families, spending their time 
in discoursing of matters they do not understand, raising and propagating 
falsehoods and calumnies of those men they look up to with envy, and on 
whose fall and ruin they wish to rise, intend to reduce all things to a state of 
tumult, discord and confusion. 

And in pursuance of those evil purposes and practices, they have imposed 
on the understanding of some, corrupted the principles of others, and dis- 
tracted the minds of many, who, under the influence of this delusion, have 
been tempted to act a part that may prove, and that has already proved, 
extremely prejudicial to the province, and as it may be, fatal to themselves; 
bringing into real danger, and in many instances destroying, that liberty and 
property we all hold sacred, and which they vainly and impiously boast of 
defending at the expense of their blood and treasure. 

And, as it appears to us, that many of this town seem to be led aside by 
strange opinions, and are prevented coming to such prudent votes and reso- 
lutions as might be for the general good and the advantage of this town in 
particular, agreeably to the request of the petitioners for this meeting. 

And as the town has refused to dismiss the persons styling themselves the 

*It was also printed in the Massachusetts Gazette and the Boston Post Boy and Advertiser for 
July 4tb, 1774. 



112 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

committee of correspondence for the town, and has also refused so much as 
to call on them to render an account of their past dark and pernicious pro- 
ceedings : 

We, therefore, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do each of us declare 
and protest, it is our firm opinion, that the committees of correspondence in 
the several towns of this province, being creatures of modern invention, 
and constituted as they be, are a legal grievance, having no legal foundation, 
contrived by a junto to serve particular designs and purposes of their own, 
and that they, as they have been and are now managed in this town, are a 
nuisance : And we fear, it is in a great measure owing to the baneful influence 
of such committees, that the teas of immense value, lately belonging to the 
East India Company, were, not long since, scandalously destroyed in Boston, 
and that many other enormous acts of violence and oppression have been 
perpetrated, whereby the lives of many honest, worthy persons, have been 
endangered, and their property destroyed. 

It is by these committees also, that papers have been lately published and 
are now circulating through the province, inviting, and wickedly tempting, 
all persons to join them, fully implying, if not expressly denouncing the 
destruction of all that refuse to subscribe those unlawful combinations, 
tending directly to sedition, civil war, and rebellion. 

These, and all such enormities, we detest and abhor; and the authors of 
them we esteem enemies to our king and country, violators of all law and civil 
liberty, the malevolent disturbers of the peace of society, subverters of the 
established constitution, and enemies of mankind." 

This is certified to be a true copy from the Town Records of 
Worcester, by Clark Chandler, Town Clerk. 

As soon as the whigs discovered that this protest had been 
entered upon the town records, they were, as a matter of course, 
very excited and justly indignant with the clerk, for having, 
as they claimed, exceeded his powers, and insulted the town by 
his procedure. A petition was at once presented to the selectmen, 
asking them to call a special meeting to take action upon the 
unwarrantable proceeding of the clerk. 

At a meeting held the 24th of August, 1774, resolutions, pre- 
pared by a committee previousl}'^ appointed, were adopted, 
denouncing the protest of the tories in the strongest terms; 
and as it appeared " that the same is recorded in the town book, 
notwithstanding the many aspersions against the people of this 
town, and without the liberty or knowledge of the town ; " 
Therefore, it was 

" Voted, that the town clerk do, in the presence of the town, obliterate, 
erase, or otherwise deface the said recorded protest, and the names thereto 
subscribed, so that it may become utterly illegible and unintelligible."* 

* History of Worcester.— By WUliani Lincoln, p. 83. 




REDUCED FACSIMILE OF A PAGE OF THE TOWN RECORDS UPON WHICH THE LOYALIST 

PROTEST OF 1774 WAS RECORDED. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 113 

The clerk thereupon, in open town meeting, with his pen 
defaced the pages on which the obnoxious record was made ; but 
this not proving satisfactory to the patriotic voters then assem- 
bled, he dipped his fingers into the ink and, drawing them across 
the records, so effectually accomplished the object that the words 
have indeed become utterly illegible, as may be seen by an 
inspection of the volume in the hands of the city clerk.* 

The following vote, reprimanding and admonishing the town 

clerk, was also passed : — 

"Mr. Clark Chandler: Whereas, this town, at their annual meeting in 
March last, as well as for several years before, honored you by choosing you 
for their clerk, relying on your fidelity, that you would act for the honor of 
the town, and find themselves much disappointed by your conduct in 
recording on the town book the scandalous protest of William Elder and 
others, filled with falsehood and reflections against the town, we have just 
reason to fear you was actuated in the matter by unjustifiable motives, and, 
at this time, exhort you to be more circumspect in the execution of [the 
duties of] your office, and never give this town the like trouble, of calling a 
town meeting again on such an occasion. The town wish to see your behavior 
such as may restore you to their former good opinion of you." 

The people of the town continued to be excited upon public 
affairs, and set about preparing for a struggle which, it was felt, 
might soon be forced upon them ; and they foresaw that, so arbi- 
trary and intolerant had become the requirements of the home 
government, the result might be a separation from Great 
Britain. In October, 1774, another series of instructions were 
passed by the town, to be observed by Capt. Timothy Bigelow, 
their delegate to the Provincial Congress, soon to be convened 
at Concord, which had the true ring of independence, and 
breathed a spirit of the strongest opposition to any action which 
should compromise their rights. 

By these instructions he was requested, among other things, to 

obtain redress for grievances of various kinds, to procure the 

restoration of free trade, the removal of the king's troops, and 

to favor the appointment of a " Captain-General " to command 

the militia. They also say : — 

" As the first charter given to this Colony was violated, and as we think 
wrongfully wrested from us by Great-Britain, and our second and late 



*A reduced fac-simile of this page of tbe town records, reproduced by the heliotype process, Is 
given as being a unique specimen of patriotic indignation. 

15 



114 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

charter is nullified and destroyed by late Acts of the British Parliament, to 
wit : by their assuniiug the authority of making laws binding upon us In all 
cases whatever; and to euforce our compliance having sent ships of war, and 
blocked the port and harbor of our metropolis, and troops in hostile array to 
dragoon the people, and the Governor independent of the people for his 
support, &c., &c. * * * That if all infractions on our rights bj^ Acts of 
the British Parliament be not redressed, and we restored to the full enjoy- 
ment of all our privileges contained in the charter of this Province, granted 
by their late Majesties King William and Queen Mary, to a punctilio, before 
the day of your meeting, — that then and in that case you are to consider the 
people of this Province as absolved on their part from the obligation therein 
contained, and to all intents and purposes reduced to a state of nature ; and 
you are to exert yourself in devisiug ways and means to raise from the disso- 
lution of the old constitution, as from the ashes of the Phoenix, a new form, 
wherein all officers shall be dependent on the suffrages of the people for their 
existence, as such, whatever unfavorable constructions our enemies may put 
upon such a pi'ocedure. The exigency of our public affairs leaves us no other 
alternative from a state of anarchy or slavery." 

More than fifty years ago, an honored citizen of Worcester,* 

in an address at the dedication of the Town Hall, thns alludes 

to this bold action of its citizens before the Declaration of 

Independence was adopted : — 

" We have heard much just praise bestowed upon the bold and overpower- 
ing eloquence of James Otis and Patrick Henry ; but vehement and daring as 
they were, they could not have uttered their sentiments in a more decisive 
tone than do the humble records of AVorcester those of its citizens. They 
could not have repelled aggression in a more resolute manner, nor more 
warily shunned the snares that were set for an unsuspecting people. The 
inhabitants could not be brought in any manner, direct or indirect, to 
acquiesce in the usurpations of the crown. They would not permit their 
representative to be sworn by^n officer not appointed according to the pro- 
visions of the Provincial Charter, nor to sit where the deliberations of the 
Legislature would be overawed by an armed force. Their resolution was to 
yield no right, to submit to no infi'actiou; and if they could not enjoj^ the 
privileges secured by the chai'ter, to establish an independent government, 
and commit the issue to a just God, if an appeal to arms should ensue." 

It was in May, 1776, that a town meeting was held, at which 
it was voted that " if the Continental Congress should declare the 
American Colonies independent of Great Britain, we will support 
the measure with our lives and fortunes." These proceedings 
show the feeling of the town at that period, and are proof that 
they foresaw that the issue would probably be the separation 
from the parent country. , 

* Hon. Joliu Davis, May 2(1, 1825. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 115 

While the people of "STorcester were so earnest in their 
demands for liberty of conscience, as well as of the body, they 
were not unmindful of the desires of others to have secured to 
them the same blessings. The following advertisement, from the 
" Massachusetts Spy " of June 21st, 1775, indicates the feeling 
of the community at that early date in regard to negro slavery : — 

" Whereas, the negroes in the counties of Bristol and Worcester, the 24th 
of March last, petitioned the Committee of Correspondence for the County of 
Worcester, (then convened in Worcester,) to assist them in obtaining their 
freedom. Therefore, — 

In County Convention, June 14, 1775. 
Resolved, That we abhor the enslaving of any of the human i-ace, and particularly the Negroes 
in this country. And that wlienever there shall be a door opened, or opportunity present, for 
anything to be done toward the emancipating the Negroes, we will use our luflueuce and endeavor 
that sucli a thing may be effected. 

Attest, William Henshaw, Cleric." 

The time soon came, however, when something more than 
words was necessary, and the patriotic citizens of the town were 
prepared and ready to respond even to the giving of their lives 
to uphold the principles they had so boldly advocated. 

When the news of tlie attack on Lexington and the figlit at 
Concord was received in Worcester, on the 19th of April, 1775, 
the bells were rung and cannon fired to call out the militia or 
minute men. A company, under Capt. Timothy Bigelow, was 
soon under arms upon the Common, and after a prayer by Rev. 
Thaddeus Maccarty, started, on its march to the scene of con- 
flict. Other troops soon followed, and before the next morning 
over one hundred men were on their way towards Boston. An 
appropriate monument to the memory of the brave officer who, 
on that April day, led his company to the defence of their fellow- 
citizens, has been erected by one of his descendants, on the 
Common from which he marched a century ago.* 

But it is not the purpose of these notes to give a detailed 
account of this interesting epoch in the history of the town. 
This has already been well done by William Lincoln, the historian 
of Worcester; and during the present year another citizen, Mr. 



*Tlie monument erected to the memory of Col. Bigelow, was completed in the Spring of 1861, and 
was dedicated on the 19th of April of that year, the anniversary of the departure of the minute men 
in 1775 for the seat of war near Boston. Only two days before the dedication, the Worcester Light 
Infantry, who were expected to have joined in the exercises of the day, had started witli the Sixth 
Regiment of Massachusetts Militia, for the defence of Washington, and at the very time the cere- 
monies of dedication were going on, they were bravely fighting their way through the streets of 
Baltimore. 



116 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Albert A. Lovell, interested in preserving memorials of the past, 
has published a " History of Worcester in the War of the 
Revolution." 

It was a short time before the affair at Lexington that Mr. 
Isaiah Thomas, then publishing a newspaper in Boston, sent a 
press and types to Worcester, anticipating that the conflict 
between the people and the British troops would soon render it 
impossible to remain in Boston. He was assisted in the removal 
of the press and types by the patriotic Timothy Bigelow. Select- 
ing a dark night for the purpose, they took them across the 
river to Charlestown, from whence they were removed to Wor- 
cester, and set up in the basement of Col. Bigelow's house. Mr. 
Tliomas himself arrived in Worcester soon after the attack on 
Lexington, having escaped from Boston, leaving most of his 
property behind him. He commenced the publication of the 
" Spy " under the name of the " Massachusetts Spy or American 
Oracle of Liberty," with the words, ^'■Americans ! — Liberty or 
Death ! — Join or Die P printed over the title. 

The first number was printed May 3d, 1775, and has additional 
interest from being the first thing printed in Worcester. This 
paper also contained the first regular account of the battle of 
Lexington. 

In a letter to a member of the General Court, written October 
2d, 1775, Mr. Thomas makes some interesting statements in 
regard to his escape from Boston, and to the difficulties encoun- 
tered in starting the " Spy " in Worcester. As a matter of 
historical interest the contents of this letter are here given, 
copied from the original, in the possession of the American 
Antiquarian Society : — 

"Worcester, October 2, 1775. 

Sir : — I have the honor of receiving two lettei's from you which you sent 
by Order of the Hon. House, desiring me to send no more papers to them on 
account of the Colony. In your last, Sir, you mention " that it is thought 
highly improper to continue the papers if they were to be paid for; 
but that it was possible you had been misinformed and that the Printers 
intended those papers as a present, as you till of late supposed." I will 
agreeable to your request, inform you of the true state of the matter and 
humbly submit it to consideration. 

A few days before the late memorable Battle of Lexington, I applied at 



HISTOKICAL NOTES. 117 

Concord, to a member of the Hou. Delagates, then sitting in Congress, among 
whom was the Hou President, to ask their opinion, if it was not proper, as 
public matters then were, for me to I'emove my Printing Office out of Boston, 
as I found the Liberty of the Press, in that devoted Capital, daily declining 
and myself growing more and more obnoxious to the Enemies of our once 
happy Constitution, and more particularly so to our then Military Masters 
(some of whom had carried their Resentment so far, as Twice to endeavor to 
assassinate me, for no other reason, as I humbly conceive, than doing the 
little in my power, in the way of my Profession, towards supporting the 
Rights and Privileges of my countrymen.) The Hon. Gentlemen iuformed 
me that they thought it was highly requisite I should immediately remove 
myself and printing materials out of Boston, as in a few days it might be too 
late. I accordingly went and, as soon as could be, packed up my Press and 
typos, and in the dead of night, stole them out of town. Two nights after 
this the Troops went to Lexington, and the next evening Boston was entirely 
shut up : — I escaped myself the day of the battle and left everything my tools 
excepted behind me. Some of the delagates of the Hon. Congress, in a day 
or two after desired me to get my Press ready for Printing as they had 
several things to be done. I informed them of my unfortunate circumstances 
at that time — fleeing from Boston, without any money to purchase stock; (I 
had just labored through another year with my paper, and it being the custom 
for subscribers to pay yearly, all that I should at that time have possessed, was 
then, and is now, in the hands of my numerous subscribers now scattered 
throughout the Continent, to the amount of above Three Thousand Dollars.) 
The Hon. Committee of Supplies were so kind as to order me paper for a 
present supply, as something was due to me from the Province, and I was 
requested immediately to continue the publication of the Massachusetts 

Spy. 

In a few days after this, I was ordered with my tools to Concord, thither I 
directly went myself, but before my tools could possibly arrive, the Congress 
had adjourned to Watertown, and it was told me by several of that honorable 
body, that it was best for me to continue for the present at Worcester. As 
none of the Boston printers then published a paper, or were like to do it, 
myself excepted, I was desired by many gentlemen, both in the Congress, the 
different committees, and the army, to forward mine to them; and several 
who I imagined knew my circumstances, told me I should send a number to 
the Congress and to the head Quarters : — 1 immediately Established a Post to 
the army to bring me intelligence, and carry my Papers to the Hon. Congress 
and the army. As matters were then in much disorder, together with my 
residing at such a distance, added to the desire I ever have had of doing my 
Country all the service in my jwioer, I did what my superiors bade, without 
ever inquiring — Who was to reward me ? — And as it was thought I could serve 
my country best in the capacity of a Printer, I went on publishing my paper, 
although at that time, I had not 200 subscribers exclusive of what I sent to 
the Hon. Congress, the Committees and Army. I never meant to make any 
great profit by the papers I have sent, and have only charged one Penny for 
each paper, which is hardly what it cost me for the Stock and Labor, exclusive 
of any emolument. If the Hon. House, after this detail (for the length of 



118 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

which I humbly crave your forgiveness, as I thought it best to be particular) 
should think I was too forward and do not merit anxj pay, either for the papers, 
or any part of the Postage, I shall content myself with their determination. 

Your candor Sir will excuse the inaccuracies of this Letter, wrote in haste, 
as I have just now an opportunity of transmitting it to you. 

I have the honor to be 

your obliged, 

humble servant, 

ISA. Thomas. 
. P. S. 

I have sent weekly, since my publishing in this place 100 papers to the Hon. 
Congress while they sat, and afterwards the same number to the Hon House — 
80 to the Head Quarters in Cambridge — GO to Headquarters in Roxbury — 16 to 
the Hon Council, 16 to the Committee of Supplies, and 16 to the Committee 
of Safety. In the whole 288 papers, weekly for which I have only charged 
6s per week postage. 

288 papers for twenty weeks at Id each and 6d per week postage £31. — 10 

I. T." 

The " Spy " took strong ground for the doctrines soon after 
adopted and promulgated by Congress in the Declaration of 
Independence, and Mr. Thomas had been so earnest in his 
demands for equal rights for all, while editing the paper in 
Boston, that, in a letter written to him by John Hancock, April 
4:, 1775, he was addressed as the " Supporter of the Hights and 
Liberties of Mankind." 

From October, 1775, to July, 1776, the " Spy " was i>ublished 
on Fridays, after that, on Wednesdays. Early in 1776 Mr. 
Thomas, desiring to establish a press in another part of the State, 
leased his newspaper to William Stearns and Daniel Bigelow, 
young lawyers of Worcester, and their names first appear as 
publishers in the issue for June 21, 1776. 

Mr. Thomas, however, still kept his interest in the town, and 
was present in July, 1776, to take a prominent part in an event 
which citizens of Worcester look back to with pride and satisfac- 
tion. 

As is well known, the Declaration of Independence was passed 
in the evening of July 4th, 1776, by Congress, and signed on 
that day by the President, John Hancock, and the Secretary, 
Charles Thompson, but it may not be equally well known, tliat it 
was not signed, in its completed form, by the members, till the 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 119 

second day of August following. Immediately after its passage, 
it was 

" Eesolved, that copies of the Declaration be sent to the several assemblies, 
conventions, and Committees or Councils of Safety, and to the several com- 
manding officers of the Continental troops ; and that it be proclaimed in each 
of the United States and at the Head of the Array." 

As soon, therefore, as copies could be printed, it was sent by 
couriers to the diJBTerent States. Having been first publicly read 
at PhiJadelphia the 8tli of July, it was received in New York, at 
Washington's head-quarters, on the 9th, and in the evening it 
was read at the head-quarters of each brigade. 

By some means, however, rumors of the passage of the act 
had reached Worcester in advance of the messenger with the 
attested copy, for in the " Massachusetts Spy " of July 10th, 
we find the following announcement : 

" It is reported that the Honorable Continental Congress have declared the 
American Colonies independent of the Monster of imperious domination and 
cruelty — Great Britain ! Which we hope is true." 

The confirmation of this rumor was received in Worcester on 
Saturday the 13th, or Sunday the 14:th of July, and was read 
publicly for the first time in New England by Isaiah Thomas, 
from the roof of the west porch of the Old South Meeting- 
House, and also on Sunday, after service, in the house itself. It 
is supposed that the messenger of Congress was intercepted 
on his way through the town, by Mr. Thomas, and a copy of the 
important document secured. It was printed in the "Spy" of 
July 17, for the first time in any newspaper in New England.* 
The Declaration was read in Boston on the 18th of July, from 
the balcony of the State House, by Col. Thomas Crafts, to an 
immense concourse, including not only the loyal people but 
many of the British officers and men who were held as prisoners 
in Boston. It is said the British officers were especially requested 



* A fac-siinile of this number of the " Spy," from the original, in the possession of the American 
Antiquarian Society, published by tlie Campbell Printing Press Co., of New Yorlt, for distribution 
at the International Exhibition, Philadelphia, is given as one of the illustrations of this pub- 
Ucation. 



120 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

to be present in full uniform on the occasion. It was received 
with great demonstrations of joj from the patriotic inhabitants, 
by the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, and the cheers of the 
people. The " Spy," in its account of the affair, says that on 
the same evening — 

" Every sign of the King's Arms, or any resemblance of it, whether Lion or 
Crown, Pestle, Mortar and Crown, Hare and Crown, together with every sign 
that belonged to a tory, were taken down, and the latter made a general 
conflagration in King street." 

The time which elapsed between the reception of the Declara- 
tion in Worcester and its publication in the Boston newspapers 
may be accounted for by the fact, that the messenger leaving the 
former place on Sunday the 14th of July, would not reach 
Boston in time to have it printed in the " Boston Gazette and 
Country Journal" of Monday; consequently, there being no other 
paper published till Thursday the 18th, the Declaration did not 
appear in print till the issues of the " Continental Journal and 
Weekly Advertiser " and the " New England Chronicle," both 
published on that day, and was not printed in the Gazette till the 
22d. 

Without doubt the official copy was at once forwarded to the 
Council, then in session at Watertown, who gave orders for a 
proper celebration of the passage of such an important act, and 
for its promulgation in Boston. The preparations for the cele- 
bration, which, as may be seen by the account in the Boston 
papers, was somewhat imposing, undoubtedly caused delay, so 
that it was four da^'^s after its reading in Worcester when the 
Declaration was publicly read in Boston. 

On Monday of the next week, after the reading of the Declara- 
tion (the 22d), the first public celebration of its adoption took 
place in Worcester, and is thus reported in the " Spy " of the 
24th :— 

*' On Monday last, a number of patriotic gentlemen of this town, animated 
with a love of their country, and to show their approbation of the measures 
lately taken by the Grand Council of America, assembled on the Green, near 
the liberty pole, where, after having displayed the colors of the thirteen con- 
federate colonies of America, the bells were set ringing and the drums a 



PHILADELPHIA. 

In CONGRESS, June 24, 1776. 

RESOLVED That all perfons abiding within 
any of the United Colonies and defiring Pro- 
teftion from the laws of the fame owe allegiance 
to the faid laws, and are Members of fuch Colony, 
and that all Perfons paffing through vifiting, or 
making a temporary flay in any of the faid colo- 
nies, being entitled to the proteftion of th^ laws 
during the time of fuch vifitation, or temporary 
ftay, owe, during the fame time, allegiance thereto. 
That all perfons members of, or oweing alle- 
gience to, any of the united colonies as before de- 
fcribed, who ftiall levy war againfl any of faid co- 
lonies within the fame, or be adherent to the King 
of Great Britain, or others, the enemies of the faid 
colonies, or any of them within the fame, giving 
to him or them aid, and comfort, are guilty of 
treafon againft fuch colony. 

That it be recommended to the legiflatures of the 
feveral united colonies, to pafs laws for punifhing 
in fuch manner as to them {hall feem fit, fuch per- 
fons before defcribed, as ftiall be proveably attain- 
ted of open deed, by people of their condition, 
of any of the treafons before defcribed. 

That it be recommended to the legiflatures of 
the feveral united colonies to pafs laws for punifti- 
ing in fuch manner as they ftiall think fit, perfons 
who ftiall counterfeit, or aid or abet in counterfeit- 
ing the continental Bills of credit, or who ftiall 
pafs any fuch Bill in payment, knowing the fame 
to be counterfeit. By order of Congrefs. 

JOHN HANCOCK, Prefident. 



The DECLARATION of the Deputies of Penn- 
fylvania met in PROVINCIAL CONFE- 
RENCE at Philadelphia, June 24, 1776. 

WHEREAS George the Third, King of 
Great Britain, &c. in violation of the 
Britifti conftitution, and of the laws of juftice 
and humanity, hath, by an accumulation of op- 
preffions unparallelled in hiftory, excluded the in- 
habitants of this, with the other American Colo- 
nies from his proteflion : And whereas he hath 
paid no regard to any of our remonftrances and 
dutiful petitions for redrefs of our complicated 
grievances, but hath lately purchafed foreign 
troops to affift in enflaving us, and hath excited 
the Savages of this country to carry on a war a- 
gainft us, as alfo the Negroes to embrue their hands 
in the blood of their mafters, in a manner unprac- 
tifed by civilized nations ; and moreover hath late- 
ly infulted our calamities by declaring that he will 
fliow us no mercy until he hath fubdued us ; and 
whereas the obligation of allegiance (being reci- 
procal between the King and his subjefis) are now 
diflblved on the fide of the Colonifts by the defpo- 
tifm and declaration of the faid King, infomuch 



oppreffions and 
Parliament of ' 
meafure that w 
our liberties, £ 
terity. 

Signed by 



W A 
In the Houfe 

WHERE. 
intitled 
the Militia wit 
of each and eve. 
expence of the . 
vels, narrow ax 
pojit and keep . 
militia upon a, 
found expedient 
fortifications, or 

Therefc 

Resolved, 
every town w 
hereby several] 
plication being 
part of the to 
aforefaid, to J 
ing any numbe 
enemy in any 
ceipts for the 
number of eact 
are hereby di 
faid Seleftmen 
ter they have 
aforefaid. 

Sent u] 

Tim 

In C( 

John 

Confented t( 
A 
Johi 

In the Houfe 

WHERE. 
fenfe Oj 
with Great-Brit 
den ball be imi 
Therefore, I 
to the inhabita 
lony, that they 
for that purpof 
hereby direftec 
and have it caft 
Sent 
Tim. Da? 
In Council, Jui 
JOHN 




Or, Am ericanjQR^CLR of LIBERTY. 

" ^"'^''""''d by T yrants v^^^irDl^^^TbTFRii? ^ " 



(V°J" VJ-) WORCESTER, Wedn 




In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776, 

A DECLARATION 

By the Representatives of the 

UNITED STATES of AMERICA. 

In General Congress aOembled. 

HEN in the courfe of human 
events it becomes neccflary for 
one people to diflblve the politi- 
cal bands which have connefled 
them with another, and to afl'ume 
among the powers of earth, the 
feparatc and equal ftation to which 
the laws of nature and of nature's God intitle 
rhem, a decent refpcft to the opinions of man- 
kind requires that they fhould declare the caufes 
which impel them to a reparation. 

We hold thefe truths to us self-evident, that 
all men are created equal, that they are endowed 
by their creator with certain unalienable rights, 
that among these are life, liberty, and the pur- 

fuit of happinefs That to fecure thefe rights, 

governments are inrtituted among men, deriving 
their julh powers from the consent of the govern- 
ed, that whenever any form of government be- 
comes dellructive of thefe ends, it is the right of 
the people to alter or to abolifh it, and to inlUtutc 
new government, laying its foundation on such 
principles, and organizing its powers in such form 
as to them (hall feem moft likely to affeft their 
fafcty and happinefs. Prudence, indeed, will 
diftate that governments long crtablished (hould 
not be changed for light and tranficnt caufes ; 
and accordin|;Iy all experience hath (liown, that 
- mankind-arc more dilpofcd to iuffer, while evils 
are fufferablc, than to right themfelves by abolifh- 
ing the form to which they are accuftomed. But 
when a long train of abufes and ufurpations, pur- 
fuing invariably the fame objeft, evinces a defign 
to reduce them under abfolute defpotifm, it is their 
right, it is their duty, to throw off fuch government, 
and to provide new guards for their future fecu- 
rity. Such has been the patient fuffcrance of thele 
Colonies; and fuch is now the neceflitv which 
conftrains them to alter their former fy'llcms of 
government. The hiftory of the prefent king of 
Great-Britain, is a hiflorv of repeated iniuries and 
ujurpaiions, all having in direft objca the cHa- 
blifhment of an abfolute tyranny over thefe ftates. 
To prove this, let fafts be fub'mitted to a candid 
world. 

He has refufed his affent to laws, the moll 
wholcfome and neceffary for the public good. 
, He has forbidden his governors to pafs laws of 
■mmedta.e and prelTmg importance, unlels M- 
pended m their operation till his affent Ihould be 
obta.ned; and when fo fufpended, he has utterlv 
ncgleaed to attend to them. 

•i^whlirn ''■"''".''^ "'= "el" of reprefentation 
in the leg.nature. a right inellimable to them and 
formidable to tyrants only. " 

He has called together legiflativ ' - 



ES 



P'^y. July 17, 1776. 



NUA 



B. 273. 



^1. r , t- — ^' 'cgtiiar ve bodies at 

5 Pon'torlT ", ""^°"/?."""'- -'1 diftan. from ,h 
acpolitory of their public records, for the lole Dur 
pore^<,^fJa„gue,ng,hem into a complian/e wirh' 

He has defolved reprefentative houfes reocatedlv 
for oppofing with manlv firmnefs i,U J'^r ^ 
the rights of the people ' '"'^"''°'' "^ 



He has refufed for 

ilution. to caufe othe 

the Icgillativc powers. 



^...ion..tocau.;;^;;.'rbn-^:ttr:^t 

incapable of an annihilati- 



on have returned to the people-., large for their 
exercife; the ttate remaining in ,he mean time 
expofedto all the dangers of invifion from with- 
out. and convulfions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population 
of thele Hates; for that purpole obllrufling the 
laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refufing 
to pafs others to encourage their emigrations hither, 
and raihng the conditions of new appropriations of 

He has obftructed the adminillration of juflice, 
Ijy refufing his affent to laws for caablilhing ju- 
diciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will a- 
loiic. for the tenure of their offices, and the amount 
and payment of their falaries. 

He has ereaed a multitude of new offices, and 
rent hither Iwarms of officers to harrafs our peo- 
ple, and eat out their fubllance. 

He has kept among us. in times o. peace. Hand, 
ing armies without the confcnt of our legiflatures. 

He has affefled to render the military indepen- 
dent of and fuperior to the civil power. 

He has combined with others lo fubjeft us to a 
jurifdiaion foreign to our conliilution, and unac- 
knowledged by our laws ; giving his affent to their 
aas of pretended legiflation : 

^ For quartering large bodies of armed troops 
among us. 

For protcaing them by a mock trial, from pu- 
nilbment for any murders which they (hould com- 
mit on the inhabitants of thefe ftates: 

For cutting off our trade with ill parts of the 
world : 

For impoUng taxes on us withoy^ur conlent : 
For depriving us. in many cafes of the benefits 
of trial by jury : 

For tranfporting us beyond feaj to be tried for 
pretended offences : 

For abolifhing the free fyftem of Englith laws 
in a neighbouring province, ellablifhing there in 
an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boun- 
daries, fo as to render it at once aa example and fit 
inftrument for introducing the fame abfolute rule 
into thefe colonies : 

For taking away our charterl, aboIiOiing our 
most valuable laws, and alteriijg fundamentally 
the form of our governments : I 

For fufpending our own legiflatures. and de- 
claring themfelves invested with power to legiflatc 
for us in all cafes whatfoever. ( 

He has abdicated government here, by declare- 
ing us out oi his proteaion, anfl waging war a- 
gainst us. I 

He has plundered our feas, rayagcd our coalls, 
burnt our towns, and dellroyed tthe lives of our 
people. r 

He is, at this time, tranfporting large armies of 
foreign mercenaries to compjeai the works ot 
death, delolation, and tyranny, alieadv begun with 
circuinflanccs_ oi cruelty and perfidv. fcarcely pa- 
rallelled in th'e most barbarous ag«. and totally un- 
worthy tlie head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken 
captive on the high leas, to bear arms against their 
country, to become the executioners of their friends 
and brethren, or to fall themfelves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic infurreaions among us. 
and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of 
our frontiers, the mercilels Indian -jvages. whofe 
known rule of warfare, is an undiilinguift' J i'- 
llruaion of all ages, fexes and conditiuns. 

In every stage of thefe oppreflion, we nave pell- 
tioned in the most humble terms, our repealed pe- 



itlons have been anfwered only by repeated inju- 
I'.JJZV^"''/^.'"^'' '" 'h- ntarkedby 
the ruler of a free people. 

Britlffi brethren. We have warned them from 
time to time of attempts by their legillature to ex- 
tend an unwarrantable jurifdiaion over us We 
have remmded them of the circumlUnces of our 
emigration and fettlement here. We have appealed 
to the.r native jullice and magnanimitv. and we 
conjured them by the ties of our common -kin- 
dred to difavow their ufurpations, which would in- 
evitably interrupt our conneaions and correfpon- 
dence. They too have been deaf to the voice ot 
JuUice and of confanguinity. We must therefore 
acquiefce in the neceffity. which denounces our 
feperation. and hold them as we hold the rest of 
mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the Reprefentatives of the UNI- 
TED STATES OF AMERICA, in general 
CONGRESS Affembled. appealing to the fupreme 
Judge of the world, for the reaitude of our inten- 
tions, do. in the name, and by the authority, of 
the good people of thefe colonies, folemnly publilh 
and declare, that thefe United Colonics are, and 
of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPEN- 
DENT STATES ; that they are abfolved from all 
allegiance to the Britilli Crown, and that all poli- 
tical conneaion between them and the state o** 
Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally diffol- 
ved ; ,and that as free and independent Hates, they 
have full power to levy war, conclude peace, con- 
traa alliances, eftablish commerce, and do all other 
aefi jnd tilings whitli iiijepcndcm ftjtci may of 
right do. And for the fupport of this declaration, 
with a firm reliance on the proteaion of divine 
providence, we mutually pledge to each other our 
lives, our fortunes, and our lacred honour. 

Signed by order and in behalf of the Congress. 
JOHN HANCOCK, Prefident. 
Alltjl, Charles Thompson, Sec'rv. 



SHEPHARDand HUNT, 

BFG leave to inform the public that 
the Co-partnership between them 
and Dr. WILLIAM PAINE i,<i this 
Day defolved. And as there are diverfe 
accotints that yet remain unTettledbelong- 
itig to (hid Company : and as the .accounts 
are in the hands ot (aid Shefhard and 
Hi;nt, they defire that all foch accounts 
may be adjufted, as foon as poliible. — 
They would alfo acquaint their former 
Cuflomers and others that thev ihall con- 
tinue the Apothecaries bufmess in the 
tame (lore, (formerly occupied by Paine 
and Company) and have on hantl a con- 
(iderable atTortment of Drugs, both Clfe- 
mical and Galenical ; together with a 
number of" the moft approved Patenteed 
Medicines, which they will sell on as 
reafonable terms as the unhappy and dif- 
ficult times will admit of". 

SHEPHKRD and HUNT. 

IVorceJter, July lo, 1776. 



PHILADELPHIA. 

In CONGRESS. Junt 24, 1776- 

RESOLVED That all pcrfons abiding within 
any of the United Colonies and dcfiring Pro- 
teftion from the laws of the fame owe allegiance 
to the faid laws, and arc Members o^ fuch Culony, 
and that all Perfons pafTing through vifiting, or 
making a temporary flay in any of the faid colo- 
nies, being entitled io the proteftion of thf laws 
during the lime of fuch vifitation, or temporary 
ftiy, owe, during the fame time, allegiance thereto. 
That all pcrfons members of, or oweing alle- 
gicncc to, any of the united colonics as before A^ 
fcribcd, who fhall levy war againll any of faid co- 
lonies within the fame, or be adherent to the King 
of Great Britain, or others, the enemies o( the faid 
colonics, or any of them within the fame, giving 
to him or them aid, and comfort, are guilty of 
ircafon againft fuch colony. 

That it be recommended to the legiflatures of the 
feveral united colonies, to pafs laws for puniftiing 
in fuch manner as to them Ihall fcem fit, fuch per- 
fons before defcribed, as fhall be proveably attain- 
ted of open deed, by people of their condition, 
of any of the treafons before defcribed. 

That it be recommended to the legiflatures of 
the feveral united colonics to pafs laws for punifh- 
ing in fuch manner as they (hall think fit, perfons 
who (hall counterfeit, or aid or abet in counterfeit- 
ing the continental Bills of credit, or who fhall 
pafs any fuch Bill in payment, knowing the fame 
to be counterfeit. By order of Cengrejs. 

JOHN HANCOCK, Prefident. 



opprefTions and cruelties of the aforcfaid King and 
Parliament of Great-Britain, as the only poffible 
meafure that was left us to prefcrve and eftablifh 
our liberties, and tranfmit them inviolate to pof- 
terity. 

Signed by order of the Conference, 

THOMAS M'KEAN, Prefident. 



The DECLARATION of the Deputies of Penn- 
fylvania met in PROVINCIAL CONFE- 
RENCE at Philadelphia, June 24, 1776. 

WHEREAS George the Third, King of 
Great Britain, &c. in violation of the 
Britifh conilitucion, and of the laws of juflice 
and humanity, hath, by an accumulation of op- 
preflions unparallclled in hiftory, excluded the in- 
habitants of this, with the other American Colo- 
nics from his protcdlion ; And whereas he hath 
paid no regard to any of our remonllrances and 
dutiful petitions for redrefs of our complicated 
grievances, but hath lately purchafed foreign 
troops to aflift in cnflaving us, and hath excited 
the Savages of this country to carry on a war a- 
gainft us, as alfo the Negroes to embrue their hands 
inthe blood of their mailers, in a manner unprac- 
tifed by civilized nations ; and moreover hath late- 
ly infulted our calamities by declaring that he will 
fhow us no mercy until he hath fubducd us ; and 
whereas the obligation of allegiance 1 being reci- 
procal between the King and his subje^s) are now 
diflblved on the fide of the Coloniils by the defpo- 
tifm and declaracjon of the faid King, inforauch 
tTiai it now appears that l^oyalty to Tiim is trtafon 
dgainll t)ie goud people of this country ; and where 
as not only the parliament, but there is rcafon to 
believe too many of the people of Great-Britain have 
concurred in the aforcfaid arhitary and unjuil pro- 
ceedings againll us ; and whereas the public vir- 
tue of this colony \{q eiTcntial to its liberty and 
happinefs) muft be endangered by a future poli- 
tical union with, or dependence upon, a crown 
and nation ft) loll to jullice, patriotifm and mag- 
nanimity. 

We the Deputies of the people of Pennfvl- 
vania, aflembled in full Provincial Conference 
for forming a plan for executing the rcfolve of 
Congress of the fifteenth of May lall, for iuppref- 
fing all authority in this Province derived from 
the crown of Great-Britain, and tor eiiabliftiing 
a government upon the authority of the people 
only, DO, in this public manner, in behalf of our- 
felves, and with the approbation, confent and au- 
thority of our conrtitucnts, ananimousiy declare our 
willingnefs to concur in a vote of the Congrcfs 
declaring the United Colonies free and Inde- 
pendent States ; provided the forming the go- 
vernment, and the regulation of the internal po- 
lice of this colony, be always rcfervcd to the peo- 
ple of the faid colony ; and we do further call 
upon the nations of Europe, and appeal to the 
great Arbiter and Governor of the empires of the 
world, to witnefs for us, that this declaration did 
not originate in ambition or in an impatience of 
lawful! authority, but that wc arc driven to it 
in abedicnce to the firft principles of nature by the 



W A T E R T O W N, 
In the Houfe of Represeatativn, June 24, 1776. 

WHEREAS by a late AQ of the General Court 
intitled. An a?l for forming and regulating 
the Militia within the colony, &c. the Select-men 
of each and tvery town are dsreiird to provide at the 
expence of the colony a number of fpades or iron Jho- 
veh, narrow axes, and pick axes, and (he fame to de- 
pojit and keep in some fafe place for the ufe of the 
militia upon an alarm : — and whereas /'/ may be 
found expedient to make ufe of such tools in ertSing 
fortifications, ffr for other necesiary purpofes. 
Therefore, 
Resolved, That the Selcftmen of each, and 
every town within this colony, be and they are 
hereby severally impowered and direft, upon ap- 
plication being made, to deliver the whole, or any 
part of the tools provided, agreeable to the a£l 
aforcfaid, to any commilfion officers command- 
ing any number of foldiers employed againil the 
enemy in any town in this colony, taking their re- 
ceipts for the lame, particularly mentioning the 
number of each tools fo delivered, and faid officers 
are hereby dirciSed to return faid tools to the 
faid Seleftmen as foon as conveniently may be af- 
ter they have done ufing them in fortifying as 
aforcfaid. 

Sent up for concurrence. 

Timothy Danielfon, Speak. P. T. 
In Council, June 24, 1776. 

Read and concur'd 
John Lowell, Dep'y Sec'ry, P. T. 
Confcnted to by the Major part of the council. 
A true Copy. Atefl. 
John Lowell, Dep'y Sec'ry. P. T. 
In the Houfe of Representatives, July 2, I 776. 

WHEREAS it is of great importance for the de- 
fenfe of this colony, in the prefenl firuggle 
with Great-Britain, that a fufficient quantity of Lea- 
den ball be imtnediately procured : 

Therefore, Rifohed, That it be recommended 
to the inhabitants of the feveral towns in this co- 
lony, that they Ipare their laden window weights 
for that purpofe. And the commiflary General is 
hereby dircfted to receive and pay for all fuch lead 
and have it caft into balls. 

Sent up for concurrence. 
Tim. Damelson, Speaker pro. tem. 
In Council, Juls 2, 1776. Read and concurred. 

JOHN AVERT, Dep. See'ry, pro tem.';- 
Conlenicd uj nv th- major part of the Council. 



„ CHARLES-TOWN, S. Carolina, May 22. 

On Monday Captain Tufts, in the Colony 
Schooner Dcftaice, returned from a cruife, with a 
brigantine belonging to New- York, that had been 
a whaling. 'Oie lame day an Englilh man of war 
and her tender appeared off ; and ycllcrday Morn- 
ing Captain Tjrpin in the Colony brigt. Comet, 
with a large flip, a prife hove in iight. The man 
of war had lah ai an anchor off the bar all the 
precedmg n.yht, and as foon as the Comet and 
her prilc apparcd weighed and gave chace : the 
wmd being atS. W. and the man of war confi- 
derably to le»,ard. (he could not come up with 
the Comet or Jcr prife. both of which bore down 
for the bar ; tut unfortunately, the tide jull then 
turning, and tb prife fliip drawing 17 feet water. 
It was found inpra^icable to bring her over, (h,; 
was there ore run aground about 5 miles to the 
N. E. of fort Johnfon. Capt. Tufis had previous 

all the alUUitc he could to bring off tlie prife. 

■ ^^"^^^ '^^ *-?«« coming near her. The man of 
war taken ad^ntagc of thcie circumstances, fcnt 
her tender, to) ^f „,«„, to the prife, which had 
been abandunc,, and fct her on fire. She was the 
St. James Cfct Wilfon, and was. bound from 
Jamaica to B»ftol, ^ith a very valuable cargo of 
rum. lugar. ic^^ai of which was entirely loll A 
few random lot were exchanged beiween the 



man of war and the Defence ; the Comet fired 
fome guns at the tender, but being at a confidera- 
ble diftancc, it is fuppofed, without cfli;£t. 

NEW-PORT, June 10. 
Lafl Saturday arrived here the fhip True Blue 
of 200 tons, taken about 14 days pad, by the brie 
Cabol, Capt. Hinman ; her cargo confifts of 115 
puncheons, and 22 hogfticads of rum : 84 hogf. 
hcads, 20 tierces, and 18 barrels of fugar ; 20 
tierces of coffee ; 60 bags and 2 cafks of pimento • 
200 bags and 10 cafks of ginger, 182 bags of 
cotton, and 48 hide. She was from Jamaica 
bound to Lancafter in England, mounted 6 carriage 
guns, and had 16 men, but made no rcfiftance 
Capt. Hinman was waiting tor a (hip of 600 tons 
when this prize left him. 

June 20, Laft Friday arrived here from a cruife 
the brig Andrew Doria, Capt. Biddle, who about 
41 days before took two tranfport (hips from 
Greenock in Scotland, having on board each 100 
Scotch troops ; Capt. Biddle took out the offi- 
cers, navigators and failors, to the number of 40 
with all the fmall arms and baggage of value 
manned the (hips with his own men and kept 
company with them 13 days; when being a little 
without Nantucket Ihoals, they were chafed by 
five vessels, one a pretty large man of war, upon 
which he ordered the prizes to lleer different 
courfes, and though the man of war chafed him 
night coming on he foon loll sight of them. We 
hope foon to hear of the prizes being arrived at 
fome fafe port. The prifoners brought here were 
landed on Friday evening, who report that 
they were part of 33 fail of tranfports which left 
Greenock in company, having 3000 troops on 
board bound to Bofton. 



THE good People of this County are 
hereby informed, that there are a confider- 
able number of prifoners in this town, who are 
willing to go out to fiiVvice, if proper perfons (hould 
appear to hire ihem. The method of obtaining 
them is as follows ; 

The persons applying, mu(l have a cerrificate 
from the Committee of Safety, &c., of the town 
where each applicant belongs, recommending them 
to be friendly to the American cause, — and mud 
have a receipt from faid Committee to be given to 
the Sheriff, and give a receipt to them ; at the fame 
time engaging to return the prifoners whenever 
thereto required. 

Worcefler, July 10, 1776. 



I. THOMAS, returns his nnccre 
thanks to thofe gentlemen who have 
fettled with him for News-papers for 
the year past : He begs that fuch a^; have 
not paid him, would He fo confide -■"■e as 
to think of the great difadvantage it muft 
be to him, to have fo many (mall funis 
in different hands, therefore would now 
requefl that they would pay their re- 
fpedtive ballances to Mr. Daniel Bigelow 
jun., (as he has removed to Borton,) 
which will greatly oblige their humble 
fervant, ISAIAH THOMAS. 

IVorcefUr^ June 1 4, 1776. 

ALL Perfons that have any demands 
on, or that arc indebted to the eftate of 
James Adams, late of New-Braintrce deceafed, 
are defired to bring in their accounts to James 
Adams, Adminiftrator on faid Eftate, in order for 
a fpccdy fettlement. 

New Braintrce, July 3, 1776. 

THE Creditors to the Ertate of Cap- 
tain Ezra Sawyer, late of Lancafter, de- 
ceafed, are defired to bring in their accounts, and 
afcertain their claims as foon as poffible, that there 
may be a fpeedy fettlement of faid eftate by 
Ephraim Sawver, 
Keziah Sawver, 
Lancaller, July 4, 1776. 



- Adminiftrators. 



WORCESTER: Prina-a b> W.STEARNS, and D. BIGELOW 



At their Printinc-Office near the Court-House, where jH pErfons 



ofPoiUge.-Prnmn, n,8,„„,,;7,f^^'>_;J"Ppl.ed^^^^^ Eigh, Shillings, per Annum , cxcl,.fivc 



cruelties of the aforefaid King and 
Great-Britain, as the only poffible 
as left us to preferve and eflablifh 
ind tranfmit them inviolate to pof- 

order of the Conference, 
THOMAS M'KEAN, Prefident. 



r E R T O W N, 

of Representatives, June 24, 1776. 

tS by a late ASl of the General Court 
, An act for forming and regulating 
hin the colony, &c. the Select-men 
'y town are dire^ed to provide at the 
■olony a number of fpades or iron Jho- 
'.s, and pick axes, and the fame to de- 
m some fafe place for the ufe of the 
1 alarm : — and whereas ;/ may be 
to make ufe of such tools in erecting 
for other necessary purpofes. 



)re. 



That the Seleftmen of each, and 
ithin this colony, be and they are 
J impowered and direft, upon ap- 
made, to deliver the whole, or any 
ols provided, agreeable to the a6t 
iny commiffion officers command- 
r of foldiers employed againft the 
town in this colony, taking their re- 
fame, particularly mentioning the 
tools fo delivered, and faid officers 
refted to return faid tools to the 
as foon as conveniently may be af- 
done ufing them in fortifying as 

3 for concurrence, 
othy Danielfon, Speak. P. T. 
)uncil, June 24, 1776. 
Read and concur'd 
Lowell, Dep'y Sec'ry, P. T. 

1 by the Major part of the council. 

true Copy. Ateft. 

1 Lowell, Dep'y Sec'ry. P. T. 

of Representatives, July 2, 1776. 

iS it is of great importance for the de- 
^ this colony, in the prefent ftruggle 
ain, that a fufficient quantity of Lea- 
nediately procured : 

\efolved. That it be recommended 
nts of the feveral towns in this co- 

fpare their laden window weights 
:. And the commiffary General is 

to receive and pay for all fuch lead 

into balls. 

ip for concurrence. 
(lELsoN, Speaker pro. tem. 
y 2, 1776. Read and concurred. 
AVERT, Dep. Sec'ry, pro tem^' 



man of war and the Defence ; the Comet fired 
fome guns at the tender, but being at a confidera- 
ble diftance, it is fuppofed, without efleft. 

NEW-PORT, June 10. 

Laft Saturday arrived here the fhip True Blue, 
of 200 tons, taken about 14 days paft, by the brig 
Cabot, Capt. Hinman ; her cargo confifts of 1 1 5 
puncheons, and 22 hogfheads of rum : 84 hogf- 
heads, 20 tierces, and 18 barrels of fugar ; 20 
tierces of coffee ; 60 bags and 2 cafks of pimento ; 
200 bags and 10 cafks of ginger, 182 bags of 
cotton, and 48 hide. She was from Jamaica, 
bound to Lancafler in England, mounted 6 carriage 
guns, and had 16 men, but made no refiflance. 
Capt. Hinman was waiting for a fhip of 600 tons 
when this prize left him. 

June 20, Laft Friday arrived here from a cruife 
the brig Andrew Doria, Capt. Biddle, who about 
41 days before took two tranfport fhips from 
Greenock in Scotland, having on board each 100 
Scotch troops ; Capt. Biddle took out the offi- 
cers, navigators and failors, to the number of 49, 
with all the fmall arms and baggage of value, 
manned the fhips with his own men and kept 
company with them 13 days; when being a little 
without Nantucket fhoals, they were chafed by 
five vessels, one a pretty large man of war, upon 
which he ordered the prizes to fteer different 
courfes, and though the man of war chafed him 
night coming on he foon loft sight of them. We 
hope foon to hear of the prizes being arrived at 
fome fafe port. The prifoners brought here were 
landed on Friday evening, who report that 
they were part of 33 fail of tranfports which left 
Greenock in company, having 3000 troops on 
board bound to Bofton. 



THE good People of this County are 
hereby informed, that there are a confider- 
able number of prifoners in this town, who are 
willing to go out to fe'rvice, if proper perfons fhould 
appear to hire them. The method of obtaining 
them is as follows : 

The persons applying, muft have a certificate 
from the Committee of Safety, &c., of the town 
where each applicant belongs, recommending them 
to be friendly to the American cause, — and muft 
have a receipt from faid Committee to be given to 
the Sheriff, and give a receipt to them ; at the fame 
time engaging to return the prifoners whenever 
thereto required. 

Worcefler, July 10, 1776. 



I. THOMAS, returns his fincere 
thanks to thofe gentlemen who have 
fettled with him for News-papers for 
the year past : He begs that fuch as have 



HISTOEICAL NOTES. 121 

beating : After which, the Declaration of Independence of the United States 
was read to a large and respectable body, among whom were the selectmen 
and committee of correspondence, assembled on the occasion, who testified 
their approbation by repeated huzzas, firing of musketry and cannon, bonfires 
and other demonstrations of joy; When the arms of that tyrant in Britain, 
George the III., of execrable memory, which in former times decorated, but of 
late disgraced the court house in this town, were committed to the flames and 
consumed to ashes ; after which, a select company of the sons of freedom, 
repaii'ed to the tavern, lately known by the sign of the King's Arms, which 
odious signature of despotism was taken down by order of the people, which 
was cheerfully complied with by the innkeeper, where the following toasts 
were drank ; and the evening spent with joy, on the commencement of the 
happy era." 

Among the toasts offered on this occasion were the follow- 
ing :— 

" Prosperity and perpetuity to the United States of America. The Presi- 
dent of the Grand Council of America. The Grand Council of America. His 
excellency General Washington. The Patriots of America. Every Friend of 
America. George rejected and liberty protected. Sore eyes to all tories, 
and a chestnut burr for an eye stone. Perpetual itching without the benefit 
of scratching, to the enemies of America. Speedy redemption to all the 
officers and soldiers who are now prisoners of war among our enemies. The 
Selectmen and Committees of Correspondence for the Town of Worcester. 
May the enemies of America be laid at her feet. May the freedom and 
independency of America endure, till the sun grows dim with age, and this 
earth returns to chaos." 

In conclusion, the report says : — 

"The greatest decency and good order was observed, and at a suitable 
time each man returned to his respective home." 

The town records for 1776 show that a special town meeting 
was called for the 30th of September, to act upon the question of 
adopting a State Constitution. The fourth article of the warrant 
calling the meeting reads as follows : — 

"Agreeable to a Resolve of the General assembly of September the seven- 
teenth. Recommending to all the male inhabitants of Each Town in this 
State, being free and of Twenty one years of age and upwards, to consider of, 
vote and Determine, whether they will give their consent that the present 
House of Representatives of this state with the Council, if they consent, in 
one body with the House, and by equal voice, should consent, agree on and 
16 



122 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

enact such a Constitution and form of Government for this State as the said 
House of Representatives & Council as aforesaid, on the fullest and most 
mature Deliberation shall judge will most Conduce to the safety, peace aud 
happiness of this State in all after successions and generations. Or do or act 
any other matter or thing Respecting the premises, agreeable to said resolve, 
which they may think proper." 

From the records of the meeting held that day it appears 
no immediate action was taken in the matter, it having been 
voted : — 

" That Considering the importance of forming a new Government for this 
state, agreeable to a Resolve of the General assembly of the 17'' of September 
Instant, and the propriety of all the freemen in the state having a fair oppor- 
tunity to give their voice in the matter, and the great number of the freemen 
of this town from being absent for the defence of this and the other American 
States, this article be referred to the adjournment of this meeting." "Meeting 
adj'i to 3 Monday in Dec." 

The Declaration of Independence is recorded on the town 
book immediately after the record of the above meeting.* 

If the objects of this publication would admit, it would be 
interesting to continue these notes, so as to embrace the more 
exciting times of the Kevolution, in which the town of Worcester 
took an active part and responded with promptness, as it has in 
later days, to the country's call for men to fight in its defence. 

Notices of some of the ancient buildings aud historical localities 
and a brief chronology of the most important events in the history 
of the town, from its settlement to the "War of the Revolution, 
are given, which, it is believed, will be a source of information to 
those of our citizens who have not the time to consult extended 
and elaborate histories. 



• Town Keoords, Vol. 4, page 72. 



ANCIENT BUILDINGS AND HISTORICAL LOCALITIES 

IN WORCESTER. 



The Old South Meeting— House. 

The oldest and most interesting of the public buildings now 
standing in Worcester is the Old South Meeting-House, on the 
Common. This ancient edifice stands upon nearly the same spot 
as that occupied by the second building erected for public 
worship in 1719. 

The necessity for a new meeting-house was brought to the 
notice of the town by the following article in the warrant for a 
town meeting, called March 2, 1761, viz : — 

" To see if the town will build a suitable House for y« Publick Worship of 
God and give such Directions relative thereto as they may Judge Proper." 

Nothing was done at this time, however, in the matter, and 
although the question was brought up at several subsequent 
meetings, it was not till March 8, 1762, that definite action was 
taken. Then the town voted : — 

" That there be a new meeting House Built for the Public worship of God, 
that the same be erected as uigh the present House as y^ Ground will admit 
off, and that James Putnam, Josiah Brewer and Timothy Paine, Esqrs & 
Messrs Elisha Smith Jr Joshua Bigelow, Capt. Daniel Ward and John 
Chandler Jr Esq be a committee to calculate the cost of a House seventy feet 
long fifty five feet wide and Twenty eight feet posts,— and what the Difference 
will be between Building s** House with Brick or wood and lay the same 
before the Town to give further Direction toward Building said House." 



124 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The result of this action on the part of the town was the com- 
mencement of the building June 21st, 1763, the location having 
been fixed at the meeting of May 18th, when the following votes 
were passed : — 

" Upon the fifth Article of the Warrant relative to the alteration of the 
Place for the New Meetiug-House the Question being put if the Town would 
give order for setting s'^ House on j-" Gi'avelly Knole between Mr. Putraans 
and the Burying Place & it Passed in the negative. — Therefore, 

" Voted — that the Committee for Building the New Meeting-House, as soon 
as may be pull down the Old Meeting House and save what stufi'they can, and 
that the New Meeting House be sett on y« spot where the old one stands, as 
may be convenient, and that the new House Front y* Country Road. Former 
votes of the Town in March, 1762, Notwithstanding." 

" Voted, That the s"^ Comittee Hire a suitable Number of men to Raise the 
New meeting House in the cheapest manner they can, and that there be no 
Public Entertainment." 

The first assembling of the congregation in the new house 
(although it was not entirely completed) was on Thanksgiving 
Day, December 8th, 1763, on which occasion Rev. Thaddeus 
Maccarty, the minister of the town, delivered a thanksgiving and 
historical serinon. 

That the house was not fully completed at the time of the 
sermon by Mr. Maccarty, is shown by the town records, from 
which it appears that at a meeting held the 12th day of Decem- 
ber, 1763, in the " new meeting-house " it was voted : — 

"That it be an Instruction to y« Committee for Building y« new Meeting- 
House that they build a Porch at y« Front Door so as to accommodate going 
into y« Front Gallery." 

Also at an adjourned meeting held the 14th of the same 
month it was voted that : — 

" Whereas y" Town at this Meeting gave Instructions to y^ Committee for 
Building a Porch at y" Front Door so as to accommodate going into y* Front 
Gallery j" Town taking y" same into further consideration, voted that y* 
8^ Committee only build a low Porch at s^ Door." 

This edifice was erected by the town in its municipal capacity, 
and was owned by the town till the second parish (Rev. Dr. 
Bancroft's) was incorporated in 1787, when it became the pro- 
perty of the first parish. 





OLD SOUTH CHURCH, IN WORCESTER, 
As it appeared in 1776. 



HISTORICAL LOCALITIES. 125 

In this house the inhabitants met, not -only for religious 
services, but to transact all the town business, it being for many 
years the only building where the citizens could assemble for 
that purpose. Here the people gathered in July, 1776, to hear 
Isaiah Thomas read the Declaration of Independence ; and, un- 
doubtedly, within its walls many debates took place upon the 
affairs of the country and the rights and liberties of the inhabit- 
ants. The parsonage, occupied by Rev. Mr. Maccarty, was on 
the south side of tlie Common, near the corner of Park and 
Portland streets. 

The following description of the building is taken from Mr, 
Lovell's "History of Worcester in the War of the Revolu- 
tion " :— 

"The original dimensions were 70 feet in length by 55 in width, with a 
tower on the north, surmounted by a spire 130 feet high. * * * The 
principal entrance was through a porch on the west side, and there was 
also an entrance through a porch at the south end, and another through 
the tower on the north. The porch at the main entrance had wide double 
doors in front and single doors at the sides. The entrance through the tower 
was also by doors on the three sides. The floor of the meeting house was 
provided with sixty-one large square box pews and seven long pews on each 
side of the broad aisle, — these last being free. Those at the right on entering 
were assigned to the men, and those on the left to the women. In front of 
the pulpit was the pew for the deacons, and the pew for the aged and deaf. 
Over the pulpit was the high sounding board with its pendant dove. On three 
sides was a very deep gallery, the pulpit being raised high enough to be in 
full view of every seat."* 

In accordance with the rules of the Cambridge Platform 
accommodations were provided for the Elders, the pew directly 
in front of the pulpit being called the Elders', although such 
officials were not recognized by the rules of the parish. This 
pew was occupied on the Sabbath by the aged and deaf, and by 
the Selectmen at town meetings when receiving the votes. 

Slight changes were made from time to time in the interior 
arrangements of the building. In 1783, " four of the back free 
seats were taken out and new square pews put in their place." 



* We are indebted to Mr. Albert A. Lovell for the use of the heliotype of the Old South Church 
as it appeared in 1776. 



126 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

In 1828, the most radical change was made, the old square pews 
being all removed, and the present long pews substituted. The 
ancient pulpit (which was on the east side of the room) and 
the sounding board with a dove and olive branch suspended from 
the centre were likewise removed. The porch on the west side 
was taken down and the wings added on each side of the tower. 
In 1834 another change was made, by removing the south porch 
and extending the building in that direction twentj-five feet ; the 
present long windows were substituted for the small ones in 
1871. 

The Common, ob Training Ground. 

The Central Park or Common was laid out very early in the 
settlement of the town, and was originally much larger than at 
present. 

In 1669, at a meeting of a committee appointed to have in 

charge the laying out and planting a settlement or " plantation 

about fourteen miles from Marlborough," voted : — 

" That there bee a plase reserued in comon neare the center of the towne 
convenient for that purpose, about twenty acres for a trayning plase and to 
set a school house upon; as near as may bee where the meeting house should 
be plased." 

In 1732, the proprietors appointed Moses Rice, Thomas 
Stearns and Benjamin Flagg, Jr., a committee to make a survey 
of the common land near the meeting-house. They made their 
report in November, 1734, from which we find that the Common 
had much decreased in size since it was originally laid out. The 
committee say : — 

" Pursuant to a vote of the Proprietors of the Comon and undivided land 
in the south part of Worcester, May the 17th, 1732, appointing us a Committee 
to return a plat of the Comon Land by the Meeting House in Worcester, 
having surveyed the same find eleven acres and one hundred and forty rod 
including the Burial place and the road thro' the said Comon is Bounded as 
desci'ibed in this platt herewith returned & survey by Benj'a. Flagg. 

All of which is submitted to the Proprietors by us." 

Encroachments upon the Common, as thus laid out, have been 
made from time to time, so that it is now reduced to about seven 
acres. 

Forty or fifty years ago there were two travelled roads across 



HISTORICAL LOCALITIES. - 127 

the Common — one from the north-west to the south-east corner, 
the other from the south-west corner, at the present junction of 
Main and Park streets, to the north-east corner, near the house 
of Capt. Daniel Goulding, which was in 1829 a tavern, kept bj 
Nathaniel Eaton, and stood near the present location of Hough- 
ton's Block. 

For many years, besides being used for the training ground 
and musters of the mihtia, it was the place used for the 
annual cattle shows, as well as for menageries and other travel- 
ling exhibitions. On the south-east corner, near the junction of 
Park street with Salem Square, was one of the town school- 
houses, and just back of that, the town pound fronting on what 
was at one time known as the Baptist Hill, now Salem Square. 

Till about the year 1834, at which time a substantial wooden 
fence was built, the Common was not enclosed, except that part 
reserved for a burial ground which was surrounded by a stone 
wall. 

Jonas Eice, tlie first settler in the town at the permanent 
settlement in 1713, was buried in the burial ground on the Com- 
mon in 1753.* Here also, in 1784, was buried -the Eev. 
Thaddeus Maccarty, the first minister of the Old South Church ; 
and in 1790, Col. Timothy Bigelow, and in 1796, Major William 
Treadwell — soldiers of the Revolution. 

This burying ground was formerly at the east end of the Com- 
mon and in use from 1730 to 1795, when it was discontinued, 
and the ground in Mechanic street taken by the town for burial 
purposes. 

On or near the spot where the flagstafif now stands, and a 
little west of the Bigelow monument, was the cannon house 
of the Worcester Artillery, the hearse house, and for many 
years a building occupied by the hook and ladder company. 

The Town Hall was not erected on the Common til] 1825, 

being formally opened May 2d of that year, on which occasion 

the late Gov. John Davis delivered an address by request of the 
town. 



* In Barton's " Epitaphs from the Cemetery on Worcester Common," it is stated that Mr. Rice 
was the first school teacher of the town, having been appointed in April, 1726. He also served as 
Town Clerk, Representative to the General Court and as one of the Judges for the Inferior Court 
for Worcester. His son Adonijah was the first male child born In Worcester. 



128 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The Old Court-House, 

Another ancient building, standing on Trumbull Square and 
now occupied by Mrs. George A. Trumbull, was formerly the 
Court-House, and located on C )i rt Hill. It was erected in 
1751, to take the place of that built in 1733, which was found 
too small for the purposes of the county. The size of the 
new one was thirty-six by forty feet, and it was for about fifty 
years occupied by the Courts. 

It was this building that the insurgents, to the number of 
three hundred or more, took possession of in 1786, defying the 
Court and, with bayonets charged, preventing its entrance. The 
Chief Justice, Artemas "Ward, did not retire even when the 
soldiers advanced and pressed their bayonets against his breast, 
but remonstrated with the commander of the insurgents for some 
time, after which the Court was tinally obliged to withdraw to 
the United States Arms tavern when it was adjourned till the 
next day. 

In October, 1763, just before the South Meeting-House was 
80 far advanced in its construction as to admit ot occupancy, 
a town meeting was held in the Court-House (the old Meeting- 
House had probably been taken down), and at a later period it 
was occupied for religious purposes on Sundays, by the Second 
Parish (Rev. Dr. Bancroft), while their own house was in pro- 
cess of erection. 

The removal to its present location, about the year 1803, 
drawn by eighty yoke of oxen, was considered a great under- 
taking at the time. For a brief period after its removal, it was 
occupied by an English lady, who kept a fashionable school for 
young ladies. 

The Court-House was originally a one-story building, with a 
high room having an arched ceiling. It was raised from the 
street about five or six feet, with a flight of steps at the front 
entrance, and the door opened directly into tlie court room. 
Under the building was a space where the gallows and pillory 
were kept. The necessity for a new and more commodious room 
was thus referred to in the " Spy " of June 18, 1800 : — 

" The Court House in this place is pronounced by every person to be too 
small and very inconvenient and altogether unfit to transact the business of 



HISTOEICAL LOCALITIES. 129 

the county. During the very warm weather last week the house was found 
intolerable, and persons necessarily attending were compelled frequently to 
leave it to prevent suffocation." 

It was occupied soon after its removal by Dr. Joseph 
Trurabull, father of tlie late George A. Trumbull, and has 
continued in the possession of the family ever since. 

In this house is a fine portrait of Dr. Trumbull ; also one of 
Samuel Paine, a Worcester loyalist; both of which were painted 
in London. 

The corner-stone of the present brick Court-House was laid 
Thursday, October 1, 1801, and it was completed in September, 
1803. 

King's Arms Tavekn. 

Amonff the decorations of the Lincoln House, at the corner of 
Main and Elm streets, on the occasion of the 4:th of July cele- 
bration, was a placard inscribed : — 

"This spot marks the location of the King's Arms Tavern. The towns- 
people compelled the keeper to take down the sign, when it was burned in 
the street." 

" Lafayette was the guest of Governor Lincoln at a house which formerly 
stood on this spot, in Sept., 1824." 

As early as 1732 this tavern was kept by Capt. Thomas 
Sterne, and after his death, in 1772, by his widow, Mary Sterne, 
who remained there till her death, in 1784. Before the Declara- 
tion of Independence was passed, it was the resort of the loyalists 
of the town, and the place where they prepared and signed the 
famous protest of 1774, an account of which has been given on 
another page. 

In xlugust of the same year, the "Worcester County Conven- 
tion, or Congress of the Committees of Correspondence, held 
two sessions in this tavern, but, "by reason of the straitness of 
the place, and the number attending" it was adjourned to the 
County Court-House. 

The occasion referred to above, when the sign bearing the 
royal arms was taken down and destroyed, was on the first 
17 



130 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, 
in 1776, a report of which, from the " Massachusetts Spy," is 
given on a preceding page. 

Upon this site, the late Governor Levi Lincoln erected a 
dwelling house, which is now a part of the hotel known as the 
Lincoln House. Here, in 1824, General Lafayette was the guest 
of Mr. Lincoln (then called Judge Lincoln, he having received 
an appointment to the Bench of the Supreme Judicial Court a 
few months before). 

The papers of the day state that Lafayette arrived in Wor- 
cester on Friday, September 3d, 1824, having been received at 
the West Boylston line by an escort of cavalry, under command 
of Capt. James Estabrook, and that Judge Lincoln met him at the 
north part of the town in a barouche drawn by four gray horses. 
At Clark's tavern, a mile or two from the village, a regiment of 
Light Infantry, under Lieut.-Col. Ward, was added to the escort. 
At the entrance to Dr. William Paine's estate, on Lincoln street, 
an arch of flags was erected over the street ; another over Court 
Hill, decorated by the ladies of the town. The children of the 
public schools were arranged on each side of the street at this 
point, and threw branches of laurel before the carriage of 
Lafayette. Another arch of flags was erected on Main street 
near the Worcester Bank. On the arrival of the procession 
at Judge Lincoln's house, the Judge, in behalf of the Committee 
of Arrangements, delivered an address of welcome, which was 
responded to by the General. 

There is but little to be found, either in the newspapers or 
elsewhere, in regard to the King's Arms Tavern, and the date 
of its erection, as well as of its disappearance, is involved in 
doubt. 

The United States Akms. 

This building, now known as the Exchange Hotel, was built 
sometime during the war of the Revolution, by Mr. Nathan 
Patch, one of the active and energetic business men of Worcester, 
and he was its first landlord. Originally, it was a two-story 
building, of not more than half its present size, and for many 
years was considered the best tavern in the place. 



HISTORICAL LOCALITIES. 131 

It was afterwards kept by Capt. William Barker, and he was 
succeeded in 1807 by Col. Keuben Sikes, one of the founders of a 
line of stages between Boston and Hartford, who made many 
improvements to the house, adding a hall on the north side. 
Capt. Samuel B. Thomas succeeded Col. Sikes about the year 
1824, and while in his hands the third story and a portico were 
added. 

This building possesses historical interest from having been the 
scene of many of the prominent events in the so-called " Shays 
Rebellion." In September, 1786, the Court of Common Pleas, 
Chief Justice Arteraas Ward presiding, met at the United States 
Arms and opened tlie Court, as they were prevented from 
entering the Court-House by a body of armed men, under 
Capt. Adam Wheeler, of Hubbardston, who had gathered tliere 
to prevent the opening. In November following, another 
attempt was made to hold the Court, but it was again con- 
vened at the United States Arms, being still prevented by the 
insurgents from entering the Court-House. 

The resistance to the holding of the courts in Worcester county 
was continued till December, 1786, wlien the Court was obliged 
to convene at the Sun Tavern ; * but adjourned in conformity to 
instructions from the Governor, to the 23d of January following. 
The insurgents, however, not being aware of the adjournment, 
met in Worcester early in December, in large numbers, and made 
their head- quarters at the United States Arms. Two companies 
of the Worcester militia were ordered out, and, after forming in 
front of the Old South Church, marched down Main street to 
the tavern, where they found the insurgents drawn across the 
street to receive them. The order being given the militia to 
charge bayonets, they advanced towards their opponents, who 
did not stop to receive them, but wheeled and took a position on 
Court Hill ; the militia marched on to the Hancock Arms, beyond 
Lincoln Square, and then returned to their quarters. 

The rebellion was soon after suppressed, many of the insur- 
gents suffering great hardships in their flight from Worcester, 
which took place during a severe snow storm. A full account of 

* In 1786 the Sun Tavern was on Main, near Elm street, where the Lincoln House now stands, and 
was kept by Capt. John Sowers. Before the Revolution it was called the King's Arms. 



132 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

the action of the insurgents in Worcester, and of the causes 
which led to the insurrection, is given in Lincoln's History. 

In October, 1789, President Washington passed through 
Worcester, and was at the United States Arms, where he 
remained a few hours and took breakfast. He was escorted 
from the Leicester line by a number of prominent citizens on 
horseback ; and, on his arrival in town, the bells were rung and 
a salute of eleven guns fired. At his departure, another salute 
was fired and he was again escorted, by the gentlemen who 
received him, as far as the town of Marlborough. 

The Hancock Arras, just alluded to, was located on the west 
side of Lincoln street, not far from the present Lincoln Square 
station of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad. Here the Shays 
insurrectionists made their head-quarters in December, 1786; and 
in early times it was a famous resort for the wits and wags of the 
town, and was often the place of meeting of the " American 
Political Society." In 1788, it had for a sign, a portrait of Gov. 
Hancock, and was kept by Mr. Luke Brown. It was destroyed 
by an incendiary fire, December 24, 1824. 

The Paine House, on Lincoln Street. 

This ancient house, located on the west side of Lincoln street, 
north of the terminus of the street railway, was raised just 
before the revolutionary war, but not completed till afterwards, 
and was formerly known as " The Oaks." Timothy Paine, who 
came to Worcester with his father, Nathaniel Paine, of Bristol, 
in 1738, purchased the farm in 1759 and built the main part of 
the present house. He and his sons, William and Samuel, 
were lojalists, he being one of the Mandamus Councillors 
appointed by the King in 1774. So great was the excitement 
upon political matters at that time, that the indignation against 
any one who accepted an office from the King was very decided, 
and Mr. Paine's case proved no exception, notwithstanding the 
high esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens. He was 
obliged not only to resign his office but to read his resignation to 
a large number of the inhabitants, who had gathered on the 
Common to hear it. He then lived in a house on the west side 



HISTORICAL LOCALITIES. 133 

of Lincoln street, and a few rods north of the Hancock Arms. 
It is said that in the early days of the Revolution, some American 
soldiers were quartered at this house, and manifested tlieir feel- 
ings towards its owner by cutting the throat of his full-length 
portrait. 

Notwithstanding his royalist ideas, Mr. Paine was much 
respected and honored by his fellow-citizens, and held many 
important offices. He was Town Clerk from 1753 to 1763, 
Register of Deeds, 1761 to 1778, member of the Executive 
Council of the Province, from 1766 to 1773, and for many years 
represented the town at the General Court. He died at Wor- 
cester, July 17, 1793. 

Dr. William Paine, left Worcester before the commencement 
of hostilities, going to England, where, in 1775, he received the 
appointment of apothecary to the British army, and afterwards 
served in America. In October, 1782, he was appointed by Sir 
Guy Carleton, physician to his Majesty's hospitals in North 
America, and, for awhile, was stationed at Halifax. After the 
war he returned to Worcester and for many years practised his 
profession. He was one of the original corporators of the 
American Antiquarian Society and its first Vice-President. He 
died in Worcester, April 19, 1833. 

Samuel Paine left Worcester a few weeks after the attack 
on Concord and Lexington, having been arrested by order 
of the town, and sent to Cambridge or Watertown. He soon 
escaped, and went into Boston, where he was at the time of the 
battle of Bunker Hill and during the siege. At the evacuation 
of Boston by the British,, he went to England, and remained 
there for several years, receiving a pension from the British 
Government. He died in Worcester, June 10, 1807. 

It has been said that the Paine estate was on the list for 
confiscation during the war, but this is undoubtedly an error, as 
there appears to be no record to confirm it. The house is 
probably one of the oldest now standing in Worcester, and has 
since its erection been occupied by five generations of the same 

family. 

The Dix House. 

The old mansion standing on Main street, nearly opposite the 



134 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

head of School street, and now occupied by Mr. Samuel Davis, 
was for several years the residence of Dr. Elijah Dix, physician 
and apothecary. He was apprenticed in 1765, for three years, 
to Dr. John Green, senior, " to learn the art of physick and 
chirurgery," and then began practice in Worcester, having 
his office and store in a building a little south of his house. Dr. 
Dix was a very public-spirited citizen, and took great interest in 
everything that conduced to the prosperity of the town. He 
was an active mover in the building of the Worcester and 
Boston turnpike, which, at the time, was considered to be a great 
advantage to the travelling public. In 1784, Dr. Dix took a 
prominent part in the formation of a joint-stock company for the 
erection of a new school-house in the central part of the town, 
consisting, besides himself, of Levi Lincohi, Joseph Allen, John 
Green, Nathan Patch, Palmer Goulding and otliers. Their object 
was to have a more suitable building than the ordinary town 
school-house, where an academy or school could be kept for the 
benefit of their children, and also in the hope that there might 
be a greater interest in the education of the young. A building 
was erected on a large open lot on the west side of Main street, 
just south of Hobbs's block, which was, in 1801, sold to the town, 
and for many years was known as the Centre School-house. 

Most of the large and beautiful elm trees whicli have been 
such an ornament to Main street were planted by, or at the 
suggestion of. Dr. Dix, but unfortunately, the modern ideas of 
improvement have caused most of them to be cut down. He 
removed to Boston in 1795, where he built and opened a large 
drug store on the south side of Faneuil Hall. It was in the 
garden of Dr. Dix in Boston, that the pear, so long and favorably 
known to horticulturists by his name, originated. 

Tlie most interesting fact, however, that can be mentioned in 
regard to this house and its occupants is, that it was the home, 
at one time, of some of the immediate family of Dr. Joseph 
Warren, who was killed at Bunker Hill. It is the tradition 
that they occvipied the house from a short time before the battle 
of Bunker Hill till after the evacuation of Boston. A former 
occupant * of the house states that upon a pane of glass in one 

* Mr. Clarendon Harris. 



HISTORICAL LOCALITIES 135 

of the cliamber windows, tlie name of Mercy Scollay was written 
with a diamond. This lady, it will be remembered, was said to 
have been betrothed to Gen. Warren for his second wife, and 
after his death she had for a time the care of his three younger 
children. 

[Since ^vl•iting the foregoing we have received through the kindness 
of Prof E. H. Leffingwell, of New Haven, Conn., extracts from four 
letters written by General Warren to Dr. Dix, in relation to the occu- 
pancy of this house by the family of Warren. These extracts are 
confirmatory of the tradition we have alluded to, and also fix with 
more certainty, the time when the family came to Worcester. A letter 
addressed to Miss Mercy Scollay is also quoted, and confirms our sup- 
position that she was in Worcester with the children of Dr. Warren.] 

Prof Leffingwell states the substance of these letters as follows : 

First Letter. 

Boston, February 24, 1775. 
" I must request you to have the house you mentioned ready to receive 
some of my goods in three or four days." He expressed a wish, that if the 
goods shouid arrive before any of his family, they should be taken care of, as 
the trunks and chests contain things of the greatest value to him. He begs 
that the matter may be kept secret, and that after his people arrive, it may 
not be known what family they belong to, until he follows them. 



Second Letter. 

Boston, April 10, 1775. 

He states that many of his goods are out of town, and desires him to hire 
two wagons and send thom to the house of Mrs. Mary Warren, in Roxbury, to 
take as many of his goods as they can carry. 

He hopes that his children and family will arrive at Worcester by next 
Thursday night, April 13, 1775, and desires him to give them the best direc- 
tions in his power. 



Third Letter. 

Cambridge, May 10, 1775. 

Requests him to call on Miss Scollay, at his house in Worcester, and ask 
her to give a reasonable reward to the bearer for carting up one load of his 
goods. 



136 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Fourth Letter. 

Cambridge, May 10. 

To his dear friend, Miss Mercy Scollay : — 

Acknowledges receipt of her letter, and is happy in hearing that she and the 
family are all in health. Says the " young gentlemen" told him that Dr. Dix 
wanted to be informed respecting the sowing of some wheat. Says he shall 
acquiesce with thankfulness in his (Dr. Dix's) judgment, and wishes him to 
hire ten or twelve acres more of land, as he shall keep several horses, and 
cannot think of being deprived of indulging himself in the pleasures of agri- 
culture. Desires him to direct in the matter of repairs, agreeably to his own 
taste, as he knows he should like it, and wishes to be remembered in the 
most affectionate manner to all friends. 



Fifth Letter. 

Cambridge, May 13, 1775. 

States that your (Dr. Dix) many kindnesses have made the strongest im- 
pressions of gratitude on his mind, and while he has not had an opportu- 
nity to acknowledge them, hopes that within a foi'tnight he may pay his 
respects to him and his lady. Says that Miss Scollay mentions their (Dr. and 
Mrs. Dix's) goodness in the strongest terms. Would be glad if he (Dr. D.) 
could hire twenty or thirty acres more of land, near the house, as he must 
keep three or four horses, and wants to have something of a farm. 

Expresses the wish, that as he has so many applications for labor from 
miserable fugitives who have fled from Boston, he would gladly provide for 
them. He therefore wishes that the men and women in the house may be 
provided with accommodations elsewhere. Closes the letter with " any sum 
of money that you may want for your private use, pray take." 

I have also a letter of Dr. John Warren, addressed to Dr. Jonas Dix, Wor- 
cester, dated Cambridge, June 30, 1775, in which he says, that understanding 
that Dr. D. has, in some measure, the care of his deceased brother's fiimily, 
and not being able to have a personal interview with him at that time, he begs 
him to take all possible care to render them comfortable, and prevent their 
being in want of anything necessary. Says that as soon as he has leisure, he 
will repair to Worcester, in order to fix matters upon a firmer basis. He 
holds himself and brothers responsible to Dr. Dix, for all necessary charges 
he may be at. 

[There is also an account, unsigned, dated April, 1775, Dr. Joseph 
Warren to Elijah Dix, Dr., for £30 12s. 3^d, and appears to be for 
repairs on the house. A memorandum, written and signed by Dr. Dix, 
endorsed " 3Iem. to be annexed to Br. J. Warrens account." This 
is as follows : — 

" I have not charged any rent, as Dr. Joseph Warren had agreed with me to 
purchase the farm, — came to a price, — and was to finish the bargain by 



HISTORICAL LOCALITIES. 137 

taking a deed, when he came up to "Worcester, and desired me to make repairs 
upon his account, which repairs were not of more real value to me than his 
improvement of the house, and was worth to me, from the time his family 
entered it, until they quitted the same, including a pasture of twenty acres, I 
hired, by his order, for his use, which cost me six pounds ; also have not 
made any charge for my personal service in taking care of, and providing for, 
the family." 

(Signed) ELIJAH DIX. 

[There is also a bill of Palmer Goulding, who, from its contents, 
I suppose was a shoemaker.] 

" 1775. Dr. Elijah Dix to pay for sundrys d'd Doctor Joseph "Warren's 

Famely : — 



June 26. To one pare for the negro man 
to one pare for the Dafter . 
to the sons 3s. Sd., to the child 2s. 8d. 
July 6. to mending one small pare • 
Sept. 22. 2 pare for Betsey .... 



The BALD^VTN" House. 



is. id. 

id. 
6s. id. 



This house stands on Main street, at the foot of George street, 
and, one hundred years ago, was the residence of Nathan Bald- 
win, who came to Worcester from Medford in 1756, and 
became one of the most respected and prominent men in 
the town. He was one of the founders of tlie " American 
Political Society " and chairman of the committee which framed 
its constitution and by-laws. Mr. Baldwin was an active poli- 
tician, and a friend of Col. Timothy Bigelow and other noted 
patriots of that day. An examination of the to"WTi records and 
the history of Worcester shows that he was a most energetic 
citizen, and was the recipient of many important trusts from his 
fellow-townsmen. 

As a member of a committee appointed in May, 1766, to pre- 
pare instructions to Ephraim Doolittle, the representative to the 
General Court, he became tlie author of resolutions which con- 
tained the earliest expression on the records of the town, of the 
revolutionary feeling against the royal government. 

He was considered the ablest writer of the patriotic party, 
and prepared the resolutions adopted by the town in 1774, 
to which we have previously referred, and against which the 
18 



138 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

famous loyalist protest was made. He was Selectman in 1770, 
Town Clerk in 1775, and for several years Register of Deeds. 

This house was occupied for many years by William Eaton, a 
grandson of Adonijah Rice. Mr. Eaton died in 1859, at the ripe 
age of 92, He took an active interest in town affairs up to the 
last year of his life, and his erect form as he walked the streets 
was familiar to many of our citizens. He held various offices 
in the gift of the town, among them that of a Selectman, for 
eight years, and a Representative to the General Court for about 
the same time. 



Note. — Besides the authorities quoted from in these notes, there 
have been many valuable suggestions received from a series of his- 
torical papers, published in the "Worcester Palladium" in 1855, and 
republished in the same paper in 1857-58 and 1874, under the title of 
"Carl's Tour in Main Street." These very interesting and valuable 
contributions to the history of Worcester were prepai-ed for the press 
by the late Hon. John S. C. Kuowlton. They will prove of great use 
to the future historian of Worcester, giving, as they do, many details in 
regard to prominent citizens, and the location of public and private 
buildings iu Worcester a generation ago, which cannot be found else- 
where. Mr. Knowlton was assisted in collecting the material for the 
series, by the late Clarendon Wheelock. 



CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF 
WORCESTER, PREVIOUS TO THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 



1657. The first grant of land within the limits of the present boundaries of 
this town was made. 

1668. In October, land was granted to Daniel Gookin and others, and a 
committee was empowered to lay out a town. 

1673-4. First settlement made in 1674. John Eliot, the "Apostle to the 
Indians," visited the Indian town Pakachoag, near the present site 
of the College of the Holy Cross. 

1675. Settlement abandoned, in consequence of trouble with the Indians. 

1684. Town resettled, and incorporated in October of that year. 

1702. Again abandoned, by reason of the hostility and depredations of the 
Indians. 

1713. Permanent settlement effected. Jonas Rice came to the settlement 

with family, and remained there without other families about two 
years. " He settled on a farm on the cross road leading from the 
Sutton to the Grafton road,' and was joined by his brothers 
Gershom and James, and others, with their families, in the Spring of 
1715." * 

1714. First male child born ; son of Jonas Rice. 

1715. First death in the town after the settlement of 1713 (Jonathan 

Hubbard). 

1716. First building for the purpose of public worship erected. 

1722. First town meeting held, in September, by special order of the General 
Court. 

1731. The County of Worcester created and Worcester made the shire town. 
The first Probate Court in the Couuty held in the Meetiug-House 
July 13, and the first Court of Common Pleas held August 10. The 
first Supreme Court of Judicature held September 22. 

1740. The first School-House built by the town, at north end of Main Street. 

1763. The present Old South Church erected. 

1765. Vote of the town instructing its representative to join in no measure 
countenancing the Stamp Act. 

1774. Militia Companies marched from Worcester as far as Shrewsbury, on 
their way to Boston, it having been reported that a body of the 
King's troops had made an incursion into the county to capture 
gunpowder. 



* MS. Notes of William Lincoln. 



140 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

1775. April lOtli. One hundred and ten men, under Capt. Timothy Bigeiow 

and Capt. Benjamin Flagg, marched for the seat of war on the 
news of the battle of Lexington being received. The news of the 
battle was received in Worcester, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon of 
the day succeeding the march of the British troops from Boston. 
The minute men marched at once, making their first halt at Shrews- 
bury, where they received orders to proceed immediately, and they 
reached Watertown at day-break the next morning.* 

1776. Sunday, July U. Declaration of Independence read by Isaiah Thomas 

from the porch of South Meetiug-House. 



CELEBRATIONS IN WORCESTER ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

The orations designated by a * have been printed. 



1776. The first celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of independ- 
ence, in Worcester, was on Monday, July 22d, 1776, an account of 
which, taken from the "Massachusetts Spy," is given on a previous 
page. 

1779. The second celebration (so far as can be learned from the newspapers of 
the day), took place in 1779. The "Spy" reports that, the 4th of July 
coming on Sunday, the celebration was postponed till Thursday the 
8th, at which time " the day was ushered in by the ringing of bells, 
the firing of cannon and a display of the Continental flag ; at twelve 
o'clock thirteen cannon were fired ; in the evening the Court House 
was illuminated, thirteen rockets were fired, and a display of other 
fireworks; greatly to the satisfaction of many respectable and 
staunch friends to the common cause of our nation, who were 
assembled at the Court House from this and the adjacent towns. 
Mutual congratulations were given and a number of toasts suitable 
to the occasion were drank." 

1789. There was a military celebration, with a procession, composed of a 

Company of Horse, commanded by Capt. Drury, of Leicester; the 
Worcester Train of Artillery, commanded by Capt. John Stanton ; 
and the two Infantry Companies of the town, all under command of 
Major [Phinehas] Jones. 

1790. By the Worcester Artillery Co., which fired a salute on- Court-House 

Hill, and had a dinner at Mower's tavern, f 

1791.* Military celebration by the four companies of the town. An oration 
by Edward Bangs, and an original ode, written for the occasion. 



* MS. notes of WlUiam Lincoln, In possession of the American Antiquarian Society, 
t Capt. Epliraim Mower's tavern was at the corner of Mechanic street, near the spot where 
Clark's Block now stands. 



HISTORICAX LOCALITIES. 141 

1792. Civic and military celebration, with a dinner at Heywood's tavern, at 

which fourteen patriotic toasts were drunk, with a discharge of 
cannon after each.* 

1793. Artillery Company paraded and partook of a repast at Capt. Heywood's, 

and fired a salute of fifteen guns. 

1795.* Oration by Joseph Allen, Jr., at the South Meeting-House. The usual 
dinner took place, with toasts, accompanied by firing of cannon. 

1796.* Oration at the South Church by Francis Blake, of Rutland. The 
dinner at Mower's tavern, at which sixteen toasts were given, 
accompanied by a discharge of artillery after each. 

1797.* Oration by Dr. Oliver Fiske. Civic and military celebration, with the 
usual dinner. The Worcester Train of Artillery also partook of a 
supper at Capt. Heywood's inn, and, according to the '» Massa- 
chusetts Spy," " the anniversary was closed with decent Hilarity." 

1798.* Oration by Rev. Samuel Austin, with the usual military procession 
and dinner. After the oration, the celebrated song, " Adams and 
Liberty," was sung with great applause. 

1799. An oration was expected from Pelatiah Hitchcock, of Brookfield ; but, 
on his way from that place the orator was seized with a sudden 
sickness, and was unable to reach Worcester. The usual dinner 
was served at Mower's Hall, and in the evening the Artillery Com- 
pany had a supper at Capt. Heywood's tavern. 

1800.* Oration by Edward Bangs, at the North Meeting-House (Dr. Ban- 
croft's). 

1801.* Oration by Isaac Story, of Sterling. 

1802.* Oration by Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore, of Leicestei*. The civic 
procession was escorted by Capt. Healey's Company of Artillery to 
South Meeting-House,- where the oration was delivered. 

1803.* Oration, delivered at the South Meeting-House, by John William 
Caldwell. 

1804.* Oration by William Charles White of Rutland. 

1805.* Procession, escorted by the Artillery Co., Capt. Slater; and the 
Infantry Co., Lieut. Flagg. Oration by Daniel Waldo Lincoln. 

1808.* Procession, escorted to South Meeting-House by Artillery Co., Capt. 
Curtis. Oration by Major Estes Howe. 

1810.* Civic and military celebration. Escort by the Light Infantry, Capt. 
William E. Green. Oration by Levi Heywood. Declaration of 
Independence read by Maj. Levi Lincoln. 

1811.* Celebrated by the young men of the town between the ages of 16 and 
21, with an oration by John W. Hubbard, at the South Meeting- 
House. 



»Capt. Daniel Heywood's inn was on the present location of the Bay State House. 



142 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

1812.* Celebrated by the Washiugton Benevolent Society, with a procession 
escorted by the Lisrht Infantry, under Capt. John W. Lincoln ; and a 
dinner in a building erected for the purpose on Federal Hill. 
Oration by Hon. Francis Blake. 
Also celebrated by the Republicans. A procession, escorted by the 
Worcester Artillery. Oration by Enoch Lincoln, and an ode by 
Edward D. Bangs. The festivities of the day closed with a display 
of fireworks. 

1814.* Celebration by the Federal Republicans, escorted by the Light Infantry, 
Capt. John W. Lincoln. The oration by Edwin A. White, at the 
North Meetiug-House. Also a civic procession, escorted by the 
Artillery, Capt. Samuel Graves. Oration at South Meeting-House by 
Rejoice Newton. 

1815.* Republican celebration, with a dinner, under an arbor erected in front 
of Captain Slater's house. The oration by Peleg Sprague. 

1816.* Celebrated by the Federal Republicans. Oration by John Davis, at 
South Meeting-House. 

1817.* Oration by Pliny Merrick, Esq. Ode by Edward D. Bangs. 

1818.* A procession, escorted by the Worcester Light Infantry; an oration 
by Austin Denny, and a dinner at Hathaway's Hall. 

1819.* Republican celebration. A procession, escorted by the Light Infantry, 
Capt. Sewall Hamilton. An oration by Edward D. Bangs, at the 
South Meeting-House. 

1820. Republican celebration. A procession, escorted by the Light Infantry, 

Capt. John Coolidge. An oration by Charles H. Warren, Esq. 

1821. Republican celebration, with an address by Henry Rogers (editor of 

the " National ^gis "). 

1822. No regular celebration this year. An address was delivered to a small 

gathering of citizens by Rev. Jonathan Going. 

1823. Democratic celebration, with an oration by Francis B. Stebbins, at 

South Meeting-House. A dinner, presided over by Otis Corbett, in 
a bower near the hotel of Nathaniel Eaton. The procession was 
escorted by the Worcester Rifle Corps, Capt. Nathaniel Gates. 

1824. A procession, escorted by the Light Infantry, Capt. Artemas Ward, 

2d; with an oration by William Lincoln, Esq. A dinner was served 
in a bovver on land of Maj. Samuel Allen, a few rods east of the 
meeting-house. 

1825. Celebration by the Light Infantry, with an oration by Richard Hampton 

Vose, a member of the company. 

1826. The first celebration under the auspices of the town authorities. An 

oration was delivered by Charles Allen, Esq. A dinner was served 
in the Town Hall, presided over by Isaiah Thomas, with music by 
the Worcester Harmonic Society, Etnory Perry, President. The 
procession, under command of Brig.-Geu'l Nathan Heard, was 
escorted by the Worcester Rifles, Capt. Thos. Howe; Worcester 
Artillery, Capt. Elijah Flagg; and Worcester Light Infantry, Capt. 
John Whittemore. 



HISTOPJCAL LOCALITIES. 143 

1827. Celebration by the fraternity of Odd Fellows, with an oration at the 
North Meeting-House, by Thomas Kinnicutt, Esq., and a poem by 
Richard Hampton Vose, Esq. After the exercises in the meeting- 
house, there was a dinner, presided over by Hon. John Davis. 

1829. A celebration with a procession of citizens, escorted by the Provi- 

dence Light Infantry, Capt. Field; Leicester Light Infantry, Capt. 
[Joseph D.] Sargent; Worcester Light Infantry, Capt. Charles A. 
Hamilton; and the Worcester Artillery, Capt. Leonard W. Stowell. 
Oration by Hon. John Davis, and an ode by Emory Washburn, Esq. 

1830. Citizens' celebration, with a procession, under the direction of Gen. 

Nathan Heard. Oration by Peter C. Bacon, Esq. At a dinner, after 
the oration, at Capt. Thomas's Hotel, the following toast was pro- 
posed by Isaac Goodwin, Esq., " Our venerable townsman, Isaiah 
Thomas, Esq., loho first promulgated the Declaration of Independence 
to the inhabitants of this vicinity from the church and press." 

1831. Young men's celebration, with a procession, escorted by the Worcester 

Rifles. An oration by Edwin Conant, Esq., and a poem by Benj. F. 
Thomas, Esq., at the North Meeting-House. There was also another 
procession of citizens, escorted by the Light Infantry, Capt. William 
S. Lincoln, and an oration by Samuel M. Burnside. 

1832. Celebration by the Republicans or anti-Jackson party, with an oration 

by George Folsora, Esq. Procession, under Timothy W. Bancroft as 
marshal, escorted by the Rifle Co. and the Light Infantry, Capt. 
Zenas Studley, at the South meeting-house. The day was also 
celebrated by the citizens without distinction of party, with an 
oration by Benjamin F. Thomas, at the North meeting-house. 

1833.* Celebration under the auspices of the town authorities. A procession 
escorted by the Light Infantry and the Rifle Company, an oration by 
Edward Everett. An oratorio under the direction of Emory Perry, 
was given in the evening, also a grand ball at Estabrook's Hotel. 

1834. Celebrated by the Whigs. An oration by Franklin Dexter, of Boston, 

at the brick meeting-house (Dr. Bancroft's). A dinner at Worthing- 
ton & Clark's (the United States Hotel), at which Levi Lincoln 
presided. 

1835. Celebration, Monday, July 6th, on the completion and formal opening 

of the Boston and Worcester Railroad. A procession, composed of 
about 300 citizens of Boston and vicinity, escorted by citizens of 
Worcester and the Light Infantry, Capt. Charles H. Geer. A collation 
was served at the Town Hall, at which Gov. Levi Lincoln presided. 
Speeches were made by the presiding officer, Hon. Nathan Hale, 
president of the railroad company, Hon Edward Everett and others. 
During the collation, about 500 ladies were given an excursion to 
Westborough. Hon. Charles Allen was chairman of the Committee 
of Arrangements. 

1836. Celebrated by the Whigs of the town, with an oration by Benjamin F. 

Thomas, Esq. A dinner in the Town Hall, presided over by Thomas 
Kinnicutt. 



144 CENTENNIAL CELEBKATION. 

1837. A celebration by the Jackson Democrats, with an oration by Robert 
Eantoul, Jr. 

1839. An oration was delivered by William Lincoln, at New Worcester. 

1840. A Democratic Celebration, with an oration by Rev. Orestes A. 

Brownson. 
1844. Celebration by the Whigs, with speeches from several gentlemen. 

1850. A celebration, with a poem by Charles Thurber. 

1851. Free Soil Celebration, with an oration by Hon. John P. Hale. 

1853. An oration by Francis Wayland, Esq. 

1856. An oration by Homer B. Sprague (printed in the "Massachusetts 
Spy"), and, on the 9th of July, a grand Floral Procession. 

1859. A grand floi'al procession. 

1860. The corner-stone of the Free Public Library was laid, and addresses 

were delivered by Hon. Alexander H. Bullock, Mayor of the city, and 
other gentlemen. 

1865. An ovation to returned soldiers. A trades' procession ; parade of the 
children of the public schools, &c. 

1868. Military and civic procession. The military organizations, under 
command of Col. Robert H. Chamberlain, consisted of six companies 
of the 10th Regiment, M. V. M., the State Guard (of Worcester), 
Lieut.-Col. David M. Woodward ; and the Highland Cadets, Capt. 
L. G. White (from the Highland Military Academy in Worcester). 
The fire department of Worcester, A. B. Lovell, chief engineer, 
formed a part of the procession. There was also a cavalcade, con- 
sisting of gentlemen mounted, and driving light and fancy teams, 
and draft horses ; in all, about 500 horses. 

1876.* Military and Civic Procession in the morning, and a grand Trades' 
Procession in the afternoon. An oration by Hon. B. F. Thomas, of 
Boston. The Worcester Continentals, an independent military 
organization, dressed in the style of the Revolutionary period, made 
their first appearance on this occasion. 



HISTORICAL LOCALITIES. 145 

Since the last pages of these notes came from the press, we have 
been favored, through the kindness of Mr. Stephen Salisbury, with a 
copy of an original letter, addressed to his father, who was a merchant 
in Worcester one hundred years ago, by Col. Timothy Bigelow, to 
whom reference has been made in the early pages of this pamphlet. 

The letter, though bearing different dates, was written upon one 
sheet of small-sized letter paper, the last date being only three days 
before the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne. As it has never appeared in 
print before, we have deemed it of sufficient interest to present it 
here. 

" Camp at Stillwater, Oct, 7, 1777. 

" Sir, — I arrived in camp last Saturday. Nothing of importance lias turned 
up since, except a small skirmish that happened yesterday between oar piquet 
guard and the enemie's, when the latter was drove to their lines. We had 
one man mortally wounded, and three others slightly. There is great deser- 
tion from the enemy, not less that 8 or 10 for many days back, mostly Ger- 
mans. The enemy are strongly fortifying their camp. 

" I am much pleased at finding such a perfect union among the different 
corps of officers. It is the happiest camp I ever was in. Officers & soldiers 
put the greatest confidence in the General imaginable.* His treatment of the 
officers and soldiers is quite opposed to that of Schuyler. I should not have 
wrote to you before I had something of more importance to communicate, had 
it not been to ask the favor to buy some brown sugar." 



" Saratoga, Oct. 14, 1777. 

" Since I wrote the above, we have almost been in one continual action with 
the enemy, but not in very close order, since the 7th inst. (for the particulars 
of which I would refer you to Mr. Lincolnf), but in close pursuit. We are now 
all round them, and it is common to have 30, 40 or 50 deserters & prisoners 
come in for several days past. The Canadians, we are told by the deserters, 
have mutinied, and decline having anything further to do in the matter, & 
was promised by the General that they should go home in a few days. They 
lost Gen. Frazer in the action of the 7th, an officer of approved merit, who 
commanded the light troops, in whom they put the greatest confidence, & 
give it as one reason we took the field, their early loss of that officer. Upon 
the whole I hardly can realize that the great Burgoyne is reduced to such a 
distressed situation as you may depend he is at present. How the scene may 



» Gen. Horatio Gates, t Abraham Lincoln. 

19 



146 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

change I cannot fully determine ; but from the present situation of things, I 
expect to give you soon a further good account. 

" What I wrote respecting sugar, the other day, I have not had time to 
think of since. Would only inform you that it is with great difficulty we can 
get any such thing here, so that if you can spare me a few pounds, when my 
baggage is brought from Worcester, it would be very acceptable in this place. 
Remember ray love to Mrs. Bigelow & children. 

" Believe me. Sir, to be with much 

" esteem your friend, 

"TIMO. BIGELOW." 




46 78 ^^ 



EBB A TA. 

Page 110, for 1744 read 1774. 



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